There’s just no stopping Savea
THE South Africans might well watch the replays of Julian Savea smashing his way past t hr e e French defenders to score a quite sensational try with a deep sense of foreboding.
This is some wing, after all. A 6ft 4in, 17st powerhouse who is quite rightly drawing comparisons with Jonah Lomu having now equalled the record — one already held jointly between Lomu and Bryan Habana — for the number of tries at a single World Cup tournament.
It does not end there, of course.
In scoring eight tries here, the 25- year-old has taken his astonishing tally to 38 in 39 international appearances, overtaking Lomu’s career total of 37.
But before t he Springboks become too disheartened, they should remind themselves that this is not entirely unfamiliar territory at a World Cup, even if they do have to rewind 20 years and run a tape of the 1995 World Cup final. There they can find the best example of how a wing of that strength, pace and stature can be stopped.
Francois Pienaar and his colleagues nullified the threat of Lomu at Ellis Park that day and Heyneke Meyer might well employ a si milar strategy this weekend.
They closed Lomu down before he could get into his stride, stopping him from doing to them what he had done to England i n that stunning semi-final in Cape Town.
The only problem, however, is the fact that this New Zealand side is far from reliant on Savea. They have other deadly finishers, with Nehe Milner-Skudder chief among them, and forwards so adept at handling the ball it is hard to know where the threat will come from.
The French discovered that to their cost at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, conceding nine tries to a team that produced comfortably the best rugby of the tournament so far.
Yes, France were poor. Yes, Philippe Saint-Andre’s tenure has ended against a backdrop of apparent player revolt. But that should not detract from how impressive a performance this was from the defending world champions.
Ominously f or South Africa, Savea thinks there is still room for improvement and if there is one concern for New Zealand coach Steve Hansen it is a l ack of discipline in defence. But, as Savea s ai d, as an attacking f orce ‘everyone was on fire’.
He added: ‘The whole team was in one sync. I was really proud of the boys. From the first whistle to the last it was an outstanding performance. But there’s always improvement; that’s what gets us excited. Knowing we can improve next week, that’s an eye- opener really.’
A humble i ndividual, Savea dismisses talk of emulating Lomu.
‘I’ve always said that no one can come close to Jonah, he’s amazing,’ he said. ‘I watched him in every home game in Wellington running over people like little kids. It’s awesome to be compared to him but I’m just doing my job as best I can.
‘I was just eager to get to the tryline no matter what. It’s about being hungry to get there, no matter the obstacles.
‘But I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without the forwards giving us great ball. Everyone likes scoring tries and if it happens, it happens, but I’ve got to give credit to the boys inside me.’
Brodie Retallick is among those forwards with the skill to provide that service. The 2014 World Player of the Year, a second row forward who demonstrated his pace and skill when he charged down a Frederic Michalak kick to score the opening try, relishes the chance to get in among the backs.
‘I like to get out there and I also like to mix it with the big boys up close,’ he said. ‘It’s nice to get involved and it’s something we’ve been doing for a while.
‘But the whole team set the tone. We wanted to get out on the front foot and I think we did that.’
He dismissed the suggestion that the Springboks would be vulnerable, stating that he fully expects them to ‘ bri ng t heir A- game’ to Twickenham.
But he also expressed his admiration for Savea. ‘It’s awesome to see when the backs get ball like that and then Jules i s there bumping people off,’ he said.
‘He’s electric. He can run round people or bump them off. I guess that’s his speciality and if we can keep plugging away, then maybe we can do something special.’