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'Surely in line for a recall': Growing calls for an All Black return for Savea
There were shades of the old Julian Savea in Dunedin last night as the Hurricanes winger bulldozed his way through the Highlanders on multiple occasions which has sparked talk of an All Black recall.
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The 31-year-old was at his blockbusting best in the first half, running through the Highlanders midfield on a well worked scrum play that almost resulted in a fantastic individual try.
Savea discarded Highlanders left wing Scott Gregory with a vintage bump off in the backfield before crashing over in a two man tackle.
The ball slipped out of his fingertips at the last second which denied him a try that would have gone straight to his career highlight reel.
Julian Savea reminding everyone why he’s called ‘The Bus’ 🚌 pic.twitter.com/EgqbzbFUnC
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 16, 2022
Highlanders second five Thomas Umaga-Jensen also got similar treatment from ‘The Bus’ in the second half, coming off second best in a collison with Savea.
The Hurricanes right wing finished with five defenders beaten on six carries for 46 running metres as his side held on for a 22-21 win.
Savea’s form with ball-in-hand has been building throughout Super Rugby Pacfic, with his strong carries a highlight so far. He took to Twitter to claim ‘age is just a number’ with some of his best carries in 2022.
Age is but a number 🤘🏾🤘🏾 https://t.co/qY6s0Oioh7
— Julian Savea (@juliansavea7) April 11, 2022
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Newshub reporter Patrick Gower claimed that Savea was ‘surely in line’ for an All Black recall following his performance against the Highlanders, which was a sentiment shared by many fans.
Julian Savea surely now in line for All Black recall.
You won’t see #AucklandMedia #CantabMafia say that though.— Patrick Gower (@patrickgowernz) April 17, 2022
Haven’t looked at the ABs wing depth much yet this year but Julian Savea can’t be far off being seriously considered for a recall.
Especially if J Barrett to 12 and Jordan to fullback becomes a thing (which I think it will).
— Max Power 🇺🇦 (@jrodbourn) April 16, 2022
Julian Savea has looked a lot like Julian Savea over the last fortnight #higvhur
— Brian Ashby (@BrianAshby2) April 16, 2022
Curious… ignoring the absurd depth in NZ’s outside backs, how big a game does Julian Savea need to have to be back in the ABs conversation?
Shades of his old, prime self with these bulldozing runs #HIGvHUR
— Lachlan Waugh (@lachlan_waugh) April 16, 2022
I love seeing Julian Savea back in form
— The Watcher (@MTshwete) April 16, 2022
Looks like Julian Savea found his hit stick again
— Emori Wainiqolo (@HabibiMozza) April 16, 2022
Julian Savea just got in a time machine and went back to his 2015 form with that run
— Mathew 🇳🇿 (@MatNewton) April 16, 2022
Julian Savea playing like 2012-2015 Julian Savea #HIGvHUR
— ¯\_(?)_/¯ (@Vinsanity275) April 16, 2022
Foster’s All Blacks in 2021 featured Crusaders Sevu Reece, Will Jordan and George Bridge as the preferred wingers, who will again provide stiff competition for Savea to break back into the squad as a winger.
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The Hurricanes have used him on the right wing, which would pit him against Jordan or Reece, who both scored tries against the Blues on Friday night. Savea might have to bank on teammate Jordie Barrett’s move to 12 being permanent.
If Barrett, who was last year’s fullback choice, earns selection in the All Black midfield this year, there might be room for Savea on the wing if Will Jordan fills the 15 jersey in Foster’s back line.
Comments on RugbyPass
Following his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
1 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to comments