The 2-for-1 All Black
First-choice openside flanker, secondchoice No 8 — increasingly that looks the case with Ardie Savea.
If All Blacks captain Kieran Read were to fall over between now and the end of the World Cup, Savea seems ready to step into his shoes.
Each week, Savea is more compelling in this role, with other options less convincing.
Carrying off the back of the scrum is but one growing strength of Savea’s game. This aspect is made all the more impressive by the fact he often achieves great gains after controlling the ball behind a backpedalling Hurricanes scrum. That alone is not easy, not least for someone supposedly playing out of position.
Even when starting at openside for the Hurricanes this year, Savea will often shift to No 8 on their feeds. Last week against the Blues, he did this several times, alternating with Reed Prinsep, to burst away for valuable metres.
Neither All Blacks flanker Dalton Papalii nor Blake Gibson had the speed to shut him down. They are not the first, nor the last, to be burnt in this fashion.
The skill of skinning opposition loose forwards and the halfback is easy to overlook. Firstly, it requires the kind of acceleration more commonly possessed by outside backs. If this can be achieved, ground is there to be made, with the backline five metres behind the scrum. The firstfive also lacks defensive support and is therefore ripe for steamrolling.
On a defensive scrum in the 22, Savea’s ability to surge off the back is invaluable. It then forces the opposition pack to turn and trek back, allowing his first-five or other kicking options much more time to pick their potential clearances.
Further evidence of explosive power off the back of the scrum came from Billy Vunipola at the weekend, the English No 8 beating four defenders to score the decisive try that carried Saracens to European glory over Leinster in Newcastle. Allowed to wind up, Savea and Vunipola are both incredibly difficult to stop.
Savea has twice started at No 8 for the All Blacks — in the romp over Samoa at Eden Park before the 2017 British and Irish Lions series, and against the Pumas in Argentina last year, with Sam Cane at seven.
On that occasion in Buenos Aires, as the All Blacks cruised to victory, Savea was immense. Since then, his game has gone to another level.
His world-class abilities at openside are a natural focus. His work at the breakdown in snaffling gamechanging turnovers in the past year has been unrivalled in New Zealand rugby but versatility could yet prove
his greatest asset for the All Blacks.
For all the improvements in Akira Ioane’s game, it’s difficult to see the All Blacks trusting him to start a World Cup knockout match, in the event Read is unavailable, given he is yet to make his test debut. Impact off the bench is a different prospect.
Luke Whitelock offers a defensively strong, safe pair of hands but his decision to leave New Zealand after this season, despite the opening left by Read’s pending departure to Japan following the World Cup, suggests he does not feel highly regarded.
Liam Squire has, at various times, been viewed as Read’s injury replacement but he has not featured since November and is racing the clock to prove his fitness after his latest comeback was delayed by another two weeks for personal reasons.
Savea ticks all the boxes — experience, speed, power.
The only slight concern with starting him at eight would be the All Blacks losing height in the lineout, though this could be offset by throwing up the blindside more. When Savea last started at eight for the All Blacks, Shannon Frizell and Jackson Hemopo were used at six.
Cane’s imminent return will inevitably sharpen attention on his looming battle with Savea.
In all likelihood, though, Cane will need time to regain his best, having been out for seven months. His return from a broken neck to this point is remarkable.
All going well, Cane’s defensive brutality could be trialled at six, in tandem with Savea, during the Rugby Championship.
Cane is a leader within the All Blacks but, for now at least, Savea appears indispensable.
And as far as insurance policies go, they don’t come much better than him at eight.