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Julian Savea says shock switch to League still possible


Julian Savea.
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All Black winger Julian Savea says he hasn’t closed the door on the possibility of one day playing Rugby League.

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According to a report in Stuff.co.nz, Savea said he has long held aspiration to play League at some stage, although he says Rugby Union hasn’t given him ‘reason’ to leave as yet.

Savea is quoted as saying: “It’s always been in the back of my mind.”

“I haven’t had any reason to leave rugby, [but] I’d definitely think about it. You can’t not think about it and not say no straight away, weigh up the pros and cons and what’s best for my family.”

Savea has fallen out of favour with the All Blacks, despite a strong Super Rugby season with the Hurricanes.

Capped 54 times for the All Blacks, Savea says he is still focused on getting back into his national team once again. The 6’3, 108kg winger’s try-scoring ability is beyond question, having scored an astonishing 46 tries for the All Blacks.

In 2015 he scored eight tries in eight matches, including a stunning treble against France in the RWC 2015 quarterfinal, one of which secured him the International Rugby Players Try of the Year Award. He was also nominated for the International Player of the Year Award in 2015.

However, 2016 was a quiet year for the man they call ‘The Bus’ and in 2017 he hasn’t yet been able to force his way back into All Black contention.

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He had one stage been linked to a move to Aviva Premiership, although that claim was rubbished by his partner on social media. He has signed until 2019 with the NZ Rugby.

Savea debuted internationally in 2012 and quickly proved himself as a powerful runner with ball in hand, scoring nine tries in his debut season. In 2014 started breaking records, scoring eight tries in eight Tests.

He won the IRB’s Junior Player of the Year Award in 2010 after scoring eight tries for the Junior World Championship-winning New Zealand Under 20 side in Argentina. He has also made appearances for New Zealand Secondary Schools and New Zealand Sevens.

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Phantom 39 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



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