Savea the new Lomu in the making?

22 November 2012

Savea the new Lomu in the making?

The year was 1995.  I was throwing away the shackles of state education and about to begin life in the fast lane of college life.  Mary Robinson was mid way through her term as the seventh president of Ireland and the first female to do so.  And John Bruton, or John Brutal if you were a fan of Dustin, was the Taoiseach in situ and led the Rainbow Coalition of Fine Gael, Labour and the Democratic Left! Remember them? A colourful period in Ireland’s political history one might say!

From a sporting point of view it was a year of many highs and lows.  In February there were the destressing scenes of English soccer hooligans rioting at Landsdowne Road in an international friendly with the Republic of Ireland.  In March at the Green Glens Arena in Millstreet there was Steve Collins nail biting victory over world champion Cwwwiiisss, I mean Chris, Eubank to win the WBO super middleweight title.  In September the Dubs regained the All Ireland Senior Football title for the first time since 1983.  And also in September who will forget the joyous scenes when captain Anthony Daly lifted the Liam McCarthy Cup and Clare became the All Ireland Senior Hurling Champions for the first time in 81 years.  The curse of Biddy Early had now been removed and Marty Morrissey’s famous declaration that “no cows would be milked in the Banner for a week!”  And the disappointing end to the year when Big Jack resigned as Republic of Ireland boss in December after failing to lead his charges though an emotionally charged Euro 1996 play off at Anfield with the Dutch.  

But my favourite sporting memory from that year was the historic Rugby World Cup which took place in South Africa.  It was the first major sporting event to take place there after the end of apartheid.  Ireland had been drawn in Pool C along with New Zealand, Wales and Japan and would kick off their campaign against the mighty Kiwi’s.  I have vivid memories of that game and Ireland’s early try by prop Gary Halpin and his two fingered salute to the New Zealand players when celebrating.  Talk about stirring up a hornet’s nest!!  It was Halpin’s one and only try for Ireland in his 11 cap Ireland career.

The reaction from New Zealand was as swift and brutal as downing a cider on a warm summer’s day.  They ran out very comfortable 43-19 winners but their victory was most notable for the impact made by one Jonah Lomu.  The new kid on the block had announced himself to the world with a two try salvo, swatting away Irish defenders when barging his way over the try line.  He would go on to score seven tries in total in five games in that tournament including his never to be forgotten four try haul in the semi final against England and in particular his try when he ran straight over the top of English full back Mike Catt.

Memories of Lomu’s remarkable show of power and strength came flooding back when watching New Zealand’s current tour of the Northern Hemisphere and in particular their game against Scotland and the two tries scored by left winger Julian Savea.  His second try was so reminiscent of Lomu’s try against England whereby he collected a bouncing cross field kick from outhalf Dan Carter, side stepped the first defender, handed off the second and mercifully for the Scottish defence there was no one quick enough to get back and therefore were not walked over by the rampaging Savea.

So is it reasonable that Savea would be touted as the “next Jonah Lomu”?  When asked about the similarities, he has stated himself that “it is an honour to be compared to Lomu, he was my hero growing up, if I can achieve half what he did, I’ll be delighted with my career”.  So how does Savea square up to the great man Lomu at this stage of his career?

He was born on the 7^th August 1990 and at the age of 22 has won seven caps for the All Blacks scoring a whopping ten tries.  His debut could not have been more spectacular with a three try demolition of Ireland in the first of the three test series against them in Auckland in June of this year.  It was the first time that an All Black had scored three tries against Ireland in a test match and just the fourth to score three tries on his All Black debut.  Lomu had become the youngest All Black test player at the age of 19 years and 45 days when he debuted on the wing against France in 1994, breaking a record that had stood for just under 90 years at that time. 

Both Savea and Lomu are close in terms of height with Savea standing at 1.92m and Lomu at 1.96m.  Lomu did carry a bit more bulk weighing in at 125kg as opposed to Savea at 105kg.  I am sure however with a long career ahead and the professionalism of the New Zealand backroom team that the scales will be tipping a bit higher for Savea as his career progresses.

Lomu had first come to international attention at the 1994 Hong Kong Sevens tournament as well as playing for the under 21 side that year.  Savea debuted for the All Black Sevens team in 2009 and was selected to play for the All Black Under 20 team to play at the 2010 IRB Junior World Championships in Argentina.  He scored eight tries in the tournament which the Kiwi’s won and he was also named IRB Junior player of the year.   

Lomu made 21 appearances for the Wellington Lions in the provincial/state competitions between 2000 and 2003 scoring 13 tries.  Savea marked his debut for the Lions in July 2010 with a length of the field run away try that clinched victory.  To date he has made 22 appearances and scored eight tries.

Lomu also played for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby during this period making 29 appearances and scoring 11 tries.  Savea debuted for the Hurricanes in 2011, and after a quiet debut season, his recent form and growing confidence has been devastating with a nine try haul in twenty five appearances.

Lomu debuted for the All Black’s in 1994 and won 63 caps in total scoring 37 tries.  He is officially the Rugby World Cup all time top try scorer with 15 tries.  Savea debuted for the All Blacks in June 2012 against Ireland and has won 7 caps to date scoring 10 tries.  His strike rate to date therefore is more than impressive  and with the confidence of being world champions and the quality of personnel he is playing with, who would bet against Savea breaking all sorts of International try scoring records in the future.

“He is a freak and the sooner he goes away the better” – the words of England’s Will Carling after Lomu’s famous destruction of the English in that world cup semi final of 1995.  Lucky for us spectator’s and lovers of the game, he did not.  The majority of his famous tries were ignited by his electric pace as he stepped in and out of his opponents and ran around them, using his powerful hands to fend them off.  The similarities with Savea’s scores to date are very striking.  Lets hope that he will continue to exhilarate us in the future, even if he does have to walk over other defenders on the way!