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Storied All Blacks 7 jersey awaits a transformed Ardie Savea

By Ben Smith
Ardie Savea. (Photos by Getty Images)

“Ardie, Ardie, Ardie.”

That was the name being chanted around Westpac Stadium on the night the Hurricanes took home Super Rugby’s spoils for the first time in August 2016.

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The Capital’s favourite was the 22-year old local boy, who made rampaging runs in an unstoppable Super Rugby final performance that many thought was deserving of the man-of-the-match award. He clocked up the most metres of any player, 64 on 11 carries, as well as 13 tackles with zero missed.

This was two months after his All Blacks debut in the June series against Wales, where in front of his home crowd he scored a breakaway 40-metre try sparking similar chants.

The form of the dynamic flanker sparked debates about who the best openside in the country was, and who should inherit McCaw’s number seven jersey. Sam Cane was the groomed heir, but on the back of a Super Rugby title Savea’s form couldn’t be ignored any longer.

His unique athleticism intrigued selectors, this wasn’t a prototype fetcher in the mould of McCaw, Cane or Todd. He was an explosive athlete, with powerful leg-drive and upper body strength to match the skills and speed usually found with outside backs. He could play anywhere in the back row, and as an edge forward could cause chaos on the fringes.

He had ‘X-factor’ and was coming of age at the Hurricanes.

However, his genetic gifts became a double-edged sword in a way. He could bring impact into a game, and coupled with his versatility, he became ideal for a bench role. Similar to the early international careers of Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie, this is how the All Blacks preferred him.

His size also played a role in the cautious introduction to test rugby. As an apprentice on the 2013 end of year tour, Savea weighed in at 95kg after just one season of Super Rugby. During his breakout year in 2016, he was tipping the scales at 102kg. He was growing fast but Cane was always a step ahead in size.

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Cane’s own body transformation added a dominant physical edge to his game, at 109kg he was belting players like he never had before, leading Hanson to praise his form as the best of his career which kept Savea at bay. Hansen believed that if Savea could get past 105 it would be his optimal playing weight, and he would reach his potential at test level.

This task wouldn’t be so cut and dry as new challenges arose. A few niggling injuries during the 2017 Super Rugby season and an All Blacks demotion at the end of 2017 presented setbacks to overcome, which Savea rectified in 2018.

He won another start in the All Blacks seven jersey for the third and final French test, only to be forced from the field in the first twenty minutes with an ankle injury that ruled him out for the Super Rugby playoffs.

Overcoming that he returned to the All Blacks bench for the start of the Rugby Championship, before the opportunity to start against Argentina gave Savea the chance he has been waiting for.

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His return to the international fold as a starter in the last month has shown shades of the 2016 form that had captured everyone’s attention, but with the bulk he’s never had before.

This is a transformed Savea, coming through the fire as a rebuilt player. He was listed at 100kg in the Argentinian broadcast, but he sure looks like he has reached 105. If he hasn’t, it must be mere grams away. The visual comparison to 2016 is as clear as night and day, he has reached another physical level.

In his first start against Argentina, he took on the grunt work and left most of the support lines to his fellow backrower, Shannon Frizell. He cleaned rucks and handled the Pumas big men at the breakdown, while Frizell made his name that night as a ball-carrying option, breaking the Pumas open as a tip runner.

The limited carries Savea took showed glimpses that he can dominate this level as a ball carrier, flattening Agustin Creevy at one stage and doing the same to his replacement.

In the return test, Savea donned the Number 8 jersey and played a different role to Nelson, tasked with more ball-carrying.

He took more exit carries and offered an option of the back of the scrum, as well as flanking the right edge in attack where he troubled the Pumas time and time again.

Savea showed again his power running can create front-foot ball consistently and was awarded his first man-of-the-match award as an All Blacks starter.

In both starts he put up 80-minute shifts, maintaining a solid work rate throughout, proving his newfound size hasn’t come at the expense of his fitness.

A bench cameo against the Springboks proved pivotal as he won crucial turnovers at the breakdown and scored the match-winning try from close range, rounding out his month of international rugby as a valuable part of the All Blacks set-up.

With Sam Cane now set for a long-term layoff following a serious neck injury, Savea has come of age at the international level at just the right time. With Matt Todd having an off-season stint in Japan, there are no established candidates to keep him away from the seven jersey.

Having re-signed for just one more season, he will now get the chance to establish himself on a crucial end of year tour. Set to turn 25-years-old next week, Savea still has a big future in the black jersey. Read will depart at some stage and Savea’s versatility as a Number 8 may find him starting alongside Cane post-World Cup, if not finding regular time at openside.

This November ‘audition’ tour will be the perfect way to convince Savea to stick around.

In other news:

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J
Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

33 Go to comments
A
Adrian 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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