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
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments