Julian Savea Back
Wellington: No one’s worked harder to regain his Hurricanes spot than Julian Savea, insists coach Jason Holland after handing the Wellington crowd favourite his familiar No 11 jersey against the Blues.
The man known as ‘The Bus’ will roll into Sky Stadium tonight for his first Super Rugby match since July 2018, having departed for France after scoring 52 tries in 120 matches for the Hurricanes.
A tick over 10 years since his debut, Savea will follow younger brother Ardie in his 100th match and first as captain, named at No 7 in a reshuffled loose forward trio alongside big units Vaea Fifita and Devan Flanders.
Last year’s All Blacks callups Du’Plessis Kirifi and Peter UmagaJensen are both on the bench, as Holland picks “the best 23 to beat the Blues”.
Now 30, Julian Savea held out the compelling challenge of Salesi Rayasi who scorched the turf for 14 tries for Mitre 10 Cup runnersup Auckland last year.
Savea, meanwhile, made a solid return for Wellington on return from Toulon and was re-signed by the Hurricanes who farewelled Ben Lam and Kobus van Wyk to Europe. “If I talk around anyone who’s actually had to earn the spot it’s Jules. “Any discussions I’ve had with him, when we were talking about whether he came back from France, have been really impressive,” Holland said.
“He’s a massively mature guy now who’s desperate to do well and be as good as he can be, on and off the field.
“We’ve thrown challenges at Jules, he came in as a replacement player last year and we didn’t give him a crack, and his response was awesome.
“The way he’s playing, he’s got his body in great nick and he’s everywhere, shades of where he was in the black jersey. We’re excited about Jules and he’s given himself every chance to do well.”
Still, the younger, quicker Rayasi must be wondering what more he needs to do to earn a Super Rugby start. Holland provided some workons for the 24-year-old New Zealand Sevens rep, who joins Umaga-Jensen on the bench.
“Sas rips it up when he gets the ball in hand, no doubt about it. He scores some awesome tries. There’s things we’ve been talking to Sas about, around work rate and involvement and little things, which he’s worked hard at.”