'Dodged a bullet': Julian Savea hits back at Toulon fan following club president's cryptic comments
Former All Blacks star Julian Savea has hit back at suggestions linking him to cryptic comments made by Toulon president Bernard Lemaitre overnight.
Speaking at a press conference where 10 new players were unveiled by Toulon ahead of the 2021-22 season, Lemaitre is reported to have claimed that the club was in talks with a “very, very impressive player”.
However, he reportedly said Toulon weren’t able to sign the player, who he hinted was a second-five, because they were “influenced” away from the club by an “All Black colleague”.
“I can tell you regarding the centre three-quarter position that we were on the trail of a very, very impressive player,” Lemaitre said, according to blog-rct.com.
“I think we were in the nails given our proposal. But ultimately, not the player but undoubtedly his wife, preferred another city than that of Toulon as a living environment. It certainly influenced the player.
“I also believe that certain remarks made by one of his former All Black colleagues who left us, might have given us food for thought. This player went elsewhere. We regret it because we did an enormous job to try to get him to come.
“That said, we are still on a calibre as they say in the field, which is likely to be added to the workforce but also to bring added value in terms of quality, in particular at the number 12 position.”
While Lemaitre didn’t identify which player Toulon was reportedly in talks with, blog-rct.com claimed that Savea, who played for Toulon between 2018 and 2020, was “clearly” the “All Black colleague” that “derailed the recruitment” of the targeted player.
The French-based site also questioned whether the player on Lemaitre’s radar was departing All Blacks midfielder and Savea’s Hurricanes teammate Ngani Laumape, who will join Toulon’s Top 14 rivals Stade Francais next month.
Savea has since taken to Twitter to reject those claims, though, as he said that he “didn’t need to convince anyone to not sign” with Toulon as the club’s “reputation of how they treat players speaks highly of itself”.
I didn’t need to convince anyone not to sign with RCT. Their reputation of how they treat players speaks highly for itself without my help. https://t.co/EyynnATkr4
— Julian Savea (@juliansavea7) June 14, 2021
The 54-test international endured a tumultuous time during his two-year spell with Toulon, where he was the subject of a public fallout with former club president Mourad Boudjellal.
Boudjellal told French radio station RMC in February 2019 that Savea “wasn’t welcome at Toulon anymore” after he scored six tries from 22 appearances throughout his maiden campaign with the club.
“I’m going to ask for a DNA test. They must have swapped him on the plane. If I were him I would apologise and go back to my home country,” Boudjellal said at the time.
“I’ve told him that he was free to go and wasn’t welcome at Toulon anymore.”
Savea also copped criticism from Toulon fans after he left the team midway through the 2018-19 season to attend his brother Ardie’s wedding in Fiji, despite the trip being part of his deal with the club.
That led Savea’s wife, Fatima, to hit out at fans shortly after Boudjellal’s comments as she said she was “absolutely disgusted” while retweeting abuse directed at her husband, which included warnings that he would be spat on at Toulon’s next game, wishing cancer on his mother and labelling him “fatman”.
“Take a minute to think about how your words can affect someone’s life and their mental health,” Fatima Savea said in now-deleted tweets.
“And people wonder why mental health in rugby had become a big problem. Take a minute to be considerate of people’s feelings instead of bashing them behind a keyboard or phone screen.”
In the wake of his response to blog-rct.com‘s claims, Julian Savea said Laumape had “dodged a bullet” by not signing with Toulon as he retweeted a reply from a Toulon fan who labelled the 30-year-old as a “piece of s***”.
?? @NLaumape you dodged a bullet uce. https://t.co/WMzUy1Jpw8
— Julian Savea (@juliansavea7) June 14, 2021
Laumape then took to Twitter himself to explain that he and his wife opted to sign with Stade Francais as they “wanted to experience the Paris lifestyle” and that Savea had “said nothing but amazing things about Toulon”.
Julian said nothing but amazing things about toulon……..me and my partner just decided we wanted to experience the Paris lifestyle so pls no need for for this kind of hate ??
Have a blessed day everyone ?? https://t.co/NstdaIAhpQ— NGANI LAUMAPE (@NLaumape) June 14, 2021
Upon the completion of his two-year, $1.65m-per-season deal with Toulon, Savea returned to New Zealand last year to sign with the Wellington Lions in the NPC.
He went on to re-sign with the Hurricanes for the 2021 season, a campaign of which he made 11 appearances and scored five tries for the Wellington-based franchise.
Savea signed a two-year contract extension with the Hurricanes in April that will keep him at Sky Stadium until 2023.
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Comments on RugbyPass
No Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
3 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
5 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
5 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
18 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
54 Go to comments