Julian Savea joins Canes as Lam exits
Wellington: The Hurricanes have confirmed former All Black and Hurricanes centurion Julian Savea will join his brother Ardie at the club for their final two games of the competition. The 29 year-old winger returned to New Zealand earlier this year during the COVID-19 pandemic, having finished up with French club, Toulon. He comes into the side as replacement for Ben Lam who played his 50th and final game for the Hurricanes on Saturday night, ahead of his move to Bordeaux.
Hurricanes head coach Jason Holland said Savea will add a lot of experience to his side.
“He’s been working pretty hard by the sounds of it. He’s played 100 games for the Hurricanes and he’s a big part of what’s happened here in the past. We are looking forward to the experience he can bring in for two weeks. He’ll help the boys along and compete in that outside back spot.”
The Hurricanes have a bye this week and Holland doesn’t expect to see Savea play against the Chiefs in round nine either, but he said, he’s keen to play some footy.
“We’ll see what happens,” Holland.
“He hasn’t played much footy, he’s been training hard, but he’ll ease his way back into it.”
The news isn’t so great for Ngani Laumape and Fraser Armstrong, with both players out for the rest of the season with fractures. Holland said they will both require surgery this week.
“Ngani is an optimistic man. There’s hope he can be back playing footy in November, which will be nice for him to get back, but we’ll see how the operation goes.”
The Hurricanes will call upon more replacements in the coming days, with Gareth Evans also gone for the season. While standout midfielder Peter Umaga-Jensen is ok after suffering a head knock in their win over the Crusaders on Saturday night. said
Fixtures Super Rugby Aotearoa: Saturday
7.05pm Chiefs v Crusaders at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton; Sunday- 3.35pm Highlanders v Blues at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin.
Super Rugby AU: Tonight
9.05pm Force v Rebels at Leichardt Oval, Sydney; Saturday- 9.15pm Brumbies v Reds at GIO Stadium in Canberra.
Super Rugby
“New Zealand thought they’d never seen another Colin Meads,” FitzSimons tells Newshub.
“To this point, they’re more or less right. But for me, no man ran him closer than Andy Haden.”
Haden was a giant in every sense of the word. At nearly two metres tall, he was hard to miss. But on the field it was his brain, rather than his brawn, that set him apart.
“The real thing was his ability to think on the field and have conversations that allowed us to do what we were doing better at the time,” says NZ Rugby president and former teammate Bill Osbourne.
In 1978, Haden’s tactical thinking was as prominent as ever when, down by two points, he took a dive at the lineout that’s since been etched into rugby folklore.
“He was a very fine representative of the black jersey and the silver fern,” says former commentator Keith Quinn.
Haden was also a stalwart of Auckland Rugby, leading them to victory in what’s still regarded as one of the greatest provincial games in history, a five point victory over bitter rivals Canterbury to lift the Ranfurly Shield in 1985.
But Haden’s influence on the game went beyond his contribution as a player.
He’s widely credited with driving rugby out of its conservative, amateur years, and into the professional era.
“When they sit in their big houses, if you like, someone had to start that drive and it was Andy Haden,” Quinn adds.
Newshub