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'I saw your tweet, Mark': Ardie Savea hoses down suggestions over captaincy

(Photo by Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz)

One of the best All Blacks performers in the 54-16 win over Wales was No 8 Ardie Savea, who was devastating with ball in hand and proved a handful for the Welsh defence to stop every time he touched the ball.

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The versatile loose forward moved to the back of the scrum, which gave him more ball-carrying responsibility after starting against the Springboks at openside flanker during the Rugby Championship.

Having relinquished the captaincy badge to Sam Whitelock for the time being, Savea insisted that the role was not a burden for him after suggestions were made that it was taking a toll on the 28-year-old.

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“Nah, I don’t think so. I think I saw your tweet, Mark, around me being captain and that taking a toll on me, and I just wanted to say it didn’t take a toll on me,” Savea told a reporter who asked if his leadership duties had impacted his game on Monday [NZT].

“I loved it and embraced it and I felt like the boys were right behind me, so it was the same for me.

“A lot of people can say that it was a burden, but it wasn’t. I love challenges and the honour to be able to lead the boys.

“Last night, I think I just found something that if you keep things simple in your mind and you just have fun and play and back yourself and back the process through the week, you can play like that.”

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Any difference in Savea’s on-field performance has to take into account switching between openside flanker and No 8 as the roles require him to do different things for the side.

Savea said the challenge of switching between the two roles comes down to nailing his preparation during the week in order to feel comfortable on game day to go out and perform.

“I’m just loving playing footy and, I know for me, I pride myself on preparing well and making sure I can nail that role within the week so then I can just go and play freely,” he said.

“For me, it kind of doesn’t matter what position, I’m really grateful if I’m playing, and then I try and nail my week. Once I’ve done that, then I’m able to just have fun, have a smile on my face and just jam.

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“I felt that last night, and I’m going to try and go with that over the next couple of games if I do get an opportunity, but it was awesome.”

Savea impressed with his dominant charges into the Welsh line, which often saw the All Black give his side go-forward, and his quick pick-and-go’s around the ruck, which caught the opposition by surprise.

He came up with two key try assists, finding a smart offload for TJ Perenara to dive over and score as well as getting involved in the All Blacks counter-attack in the second half to provide the last pass for Sevu Reece on his try.

Savea said he just happened to be “in the right place at the right time” to help his side convert their try-scoring opportunities.

“Things happen so quickly in the game, and I know Plum [All Blacks assistant coach John Plumtree] mentioned to me to try and get my hands on the ball if I can, so I just found myself in the right place at the right time.

“For me, it’s just, ‘Close my eyes, bite down on my mouthguard, and just go’. If you can stop me, stop me, but I’m just going to fight through it.”

New Zealand’s first test of the European tour against an understrength Wales side was about blowing out the rust, Savea said, with a number of the players not having any game time over the last four weeks.

With many first-time tourists in 2021, the experience was a new one for some of the younger All Blacks playing in front of a packed Cardiff crowd so the side went into the clash with a simple game plan.

“There were some of us that haven’t played footy in three or four weeks after South Africa II, and then we played in Washington and there were some of us here that hadn’t played, so I think we used that week to try and get the rust out of us,” he said.

“We knew it was going to be a massive game, massive crowd for many of the players that have never played in front of a crowd like that, but we kind of just had a simple game plan and we wanted to nail the basics in our game.

“We thought we did that well.”

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1 Comment
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Barry 1098 days ago

Onya Ardie! 🙃 😎 😍

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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