Next Michael Jones? The 'special' All Black who will dominate World Cup
By Patrick McKendry, NZ Herald
Thirty two years ago, a young openside flanker called Michael Jones lit up the 1987 Rugby World Cup for the All Blacks by playing a game no one had seen before from a forward.
The then 22-year-old had excellent anticipation, electric pace, brilliant handling skills and a set of shoulders which regularly performed the equivalent of firmly shutting a door on an opposition player. Jones, who later became known as the Iceman, played with balance and grace but he was occasionally brutal too.
He could apparently do it all and quickly became a favourite for kids everywhere. Everyone wanted to be like Michael Jones. Now it seems they all want to be like Ardie Savea, an All Black who received one of the loudest cheers from the crowd bathing in the afternoon sunshine at Waikato Stadium before the recent test against Tonga.
And no wonder. Wallabies coach Michael Cheika recently referred to Savea as a “hybrid” type of loose forward who could play any of the three back-row positions, but the 25-year-old showed in the 92-7 romp against the All Blacks’ South Pacific neighbours that he’s that and a little more.
Savea is a once-in-a-generation type player who has the pace and rugby nous to play in the midfield or on the wing, a player even his All Black teammates look at and shake their heads at what he’s doing on a pitch. Like Jones, Savea can do it all too, and he’s about to do it in front of millions on the biggest stage.
Fellow loose forward Matt Todd, who started with Savea in Hamilton on Saturday, described him as a “special athlete”. Beauden Barrett called him one of the most influential players the All Blacks have.
There are few guarantees for the All Blacks in Japan at this World Cup, but what is a near sure thing is that Savea will light up the tournament like few others and he’s likely to win a multitude of new fans in the process.
“It’s a lot better playing alongside him than against him, that’s for sure,” Todd said. “He can create things on a footy field and do stuff than no one else really can.
“He can slot in anywhere. He’s got that speed at the back of the scrum. His ball-carrying – he refuses to go down so he gets you over the gain line. He creates momentum for you and obviously he’s great at the No 7 role when fetching and creating turnovers. He impacts the game in so many ways.
“He’s obviously a powerful man, and he’s never tackled – he wriggles and fights and finds a way to keep going. He runs great lines as well and puts himself in great positions. He’s got that speed as well. If he gets a half gap he’s gone.”
For Barrett, who has played alongside him for many years at the Hurricanes, Savea’s greatest strength is his work rate.
“His work rate is immense,” Barrett said. “The influence he has on a rugby game when it comes to the breakdown is big and then you see him run around wings on the edges. He’s probably our most influential player in terms of workrate that we have at the moment.”
Formerly an impact player for the All Blacks, Savea’s big break coincided with Sam Cane’s neck injury last year. Before then Savea had never started more than two tests in row.
Now he’s started his last eight as Steve Hansen and his fellow selectors opt for a Savea, Sam Cane, Kieran Read loose forward triumvirate which is all about helping to provide a high-impact, up-tempo game. A game, in other words, perfectly suited to Savea.
“We’ve known for years how good he is,” Barrett added. “I’ve been fortunate to see that as a teammate at the Canes. It’s great that he’s starting and we’ve been able to see him for a full 80 minutes and not 30 minutes off the bench here and there. If that’s the combination going forward then that’s great for us.”
This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and was republished with permission.
The Season:
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments