Storied All Blacks 7 jersey awaits a transformed Ardie Savea
“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.
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.
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.
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:
Comments on RugbyPass
Big 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
1 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 commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to comments