Julian Savea and Jonah Lomu
In most cases, comparing a young player with a legend of the game is to burden him with unfair expectation.
To say Julian Savea is the new Jonah Lomu is definitely unfair. Unfair because it is selling Savea short. The 24-year-old wing may already have surpassed Lomu, according to All Black coach Steve Hansen.
NZ Herald
“I think he’s probably better,” says Hansen. “He can do more things than Jonah. Jonah was a great player but I think Julian has got more to his game than Jonah.
“That’s really saying something but I genuinely believe that. He’s very good going back. He’s very good under the high ball. He’s very good over the ball on the ground as well as being a great ball carrier.”
It’s easy to understand why the comparison gets made nevertheless. At 1.92m and 108kg, Savea is as close to an accurate physical incarnation there has been of Lomu on the All Black left wing.
And his try against the Pumas in La Plata last week when he simply ran over the top and then through defenders was so like Lomu’s opening try of the 1995 World Cup semifinal when Mike Catt was mangled like road kill.
If there is a more deadly weapon in world rugby right now, no one is sure who it would be. The All Blacks have something incredible in their possession and Savea’s 27 tries in 27 tests is a statistic that confirms his astonishing finishing power. No one has ever had a record quite like it.
Joe Rokocoko blazed a trail in the early part of his career but after his first season, the gap between tests played and tries scored began to widen.
A strike rate of a try per game – and he’s in his third season of test football – that’s scarcely believable.
“It would be hard to find one,” says Hansen when asked if there is a better weapon in the world game. “The other wing who is dangerous for different reasons is Bryan Habana. He is a quality player. And Ben Smith is a quality player but for different reasons. Julian has got sheer power. If you don’t tackle him right, you don’t tackle him.
“He can create something out of nothing and the other two are out and out finishers and can ignite something but they don’t have that same physicality that Julian does.”
Veteran midfielder Conrad Smith agrees emphatically with his coach. Smith, renowned as one of the best defenders in the business, says that as a fellow Hurricane and All Black he’s eternally grateful that he’s never had to, or ever likely to have to throw himself in front of Savea.
“Playing for the Hurricanes I often watch him bowl defenders,” says Smith. “Guys just can’t tackle him and I always wonder. Not that I’d like to do it but I always wonder what it would be like to defend him. He makes it seem so hard and I’m sure it is.
“I tackle him at training but never in a proper situation. It is so different when you try to emulate what happens on the field. He wouldn’t mind me saying this that both of us are guys that probably never reach game status during a practice run. Other guys can. He is someone I am glad that I am always on the same team as.”
Evoking the memory of Lomu further this week is the venue of tomorrow’s test against the Springboks. In 1995, Lomu came to Ellis Park to play in the World Cup final after single-handedly destroying England in the semi.
Savea is going to the same ground having been particularly influential in the defeat of Argentina last week.
More than that, though, Savea has been an increasingly influential player for the All Blacks since early last year and the attitude to using him isn’t so different to the mantra in 1995.
Back then the All Blacks didn’t over-complicate matters and effectively played on the simple premise of – “give the ball to Jonah”. The All Blacks of today are close to having a mantra of – “give the ball to Julian”.
“It is not a conscious thing but watching replays I can see how often I give him the ball whereas I wouldn’t always give it to another player,” says Smith.
“I have been lucky in that I have always played with great wingers and if there has been a chance I will give them the ball. But with him there are times when I think ‘I might have just shovelled something on here’ but it is from the amount of times I have given him the ball and seen him make something from nothing.”
There is one final comparison the All Blacks don’t want made between Savea and Lomu.
In 1995, the Boks shut Lomu out of the final at Ellis Park. They reduced his influence to virtually nothing and in 12 tests against South Africa, Lomu never scored.
Interestingly Savea hasn’t scored a try against the Boks in four appearances. Given his strike rate, that is a statistical oddity indeed. It’s a pattern Savea would like to break and if he can run rampant at Ellis Park, he may just establish definitely that he’s already a better player than Lomu.
Savea’s try haul
Argentina 6 games, 8 tries
Australia 5 games, 2 tries
England 4 games, 8 tries
France 2 games, 1 try
Italy 1 game, 2 tries
Ireland 3 games, 4 tries
Scotland 1 game, 2 tries
South Africa 4 games, 0 tries
Wales 1 game, 0 tries
Lomu’s try haul
Argentina 2 games, 1 try
Australia 13 games, 6 tries
England 7 games, 8 tries
Fiji 1 game, 0 tries
France 8 games, 4 tries
Ireland 4 games, 3 tries
Italy 3 games, 5 tries
Samoa 2 games, 1 try
Scotland 6 games, 7 tries
South Africa 12 games, 0 tries
Tonga 2 games, 2 tries
Wales 3 games, 0 tries