OPINION: Many a Rugby World Cup has been won on a wing and a prayer. John Kirwan was the start and every team that followed the inaugural success of the All Blacks had at least one outstanding wing.
The 2015 World Cup is now 18 months away and, if New Zealand are to be the first team to retain the trophy, Julian Savea can be the difference.
This smacks of hyperbole, so apologies to all those who are sick of the best evers, but the more I see of Savea, the more I am convinced that he has the ability to be the greatest wing of all time. Jonah Lomu changed the rugby world, but he did not possess the range of skills Savea is developing.
Of course, Savea is a freakish athletic, with the range of an Olympic decathlete. He won the school shot put, the discus, the long jump and was clocking under 11 seconds for the 100 metres when still a teenager. Savea dominated the 2010 Junior World Championships but in comparative physical terms, he was just a pup back then. Now Savea is what Bill McLaren would call "17 stone of prime New Zealand beef on the hoof".
When you compare Savea with the greatest wings of the past 50 years, it is evident the 23-year-old has the world at his feet. Gerald Davies was maybe the greatest stepper of them all and a highly intelligent footballer, but there are dark places where TGR could not go on a rugby pitch. No door is closed to Savea. If he can't run round, he smashes through.
Jeff Wilson was a beautiful all-round footballer, balanced, great hands, intelligent. David Campese was arguably the best of them all, a player who challenged the impossible. He lost the odd match for Australia, famously against the Lions, but he won them so many more as the '91 All Blacks will ruefully testify.
You go through all those Rugby World Cup-winning teams and each one drew hope and strength from at least one of its wide men. Chester Williams and James Small were perhaps not the greatest rugby players ever but, in their different ways, they were iconic members of the '95 Springboks.
Australia had Joe Roff and Ben Tune in '99, England had Jason Robinson and Ben Cohen in 2003, South Africa Bryan Habana and J P Pietersen in 2007 and New Zealand Richard Kahui and Cory Jane in 2011. The latter pair were the least likely to break a game open, but they literally held the side together.
Yet all those players, great as they are, were not physically complete. The world still awaits a wing with Lomu's power and the skills of Campese, Wilson or Robinson. Savea could be that man, the All Blacks' potential saviour on one of those dark autumnal days that looms at next year's World Cup . Already sides like Ireland have worked out New Zealand's variation on the Crusaders game plan and are stitching up the seams.
But if you can't go round ‘em, go over them. The world's best fullbacks - Ben Smith, Mike Brown and Israel Dagg - have all felt that same churning sensation that Mike Catt famously experienced when Lomu ran over the top of him. Kieran Read will testify to the force of Savea's handoff or front on bump. No wonder the Crusaders tried to sign him before this season.
BUT it's the rest of Savea's game that makes him special. He has great hands, witnessed by the one-handed pick-up against the Waratahs as he changed direction or the brilliant reception of Blade Thomson's inside pass earlier this season. He does not have Campo's range of vision, but the big man is adept at making the ball available out of the tackle.
I loved the outside drift Savea put on against the Crusaders, enabling TJ Perenara's pass to beat the winger who was ball watching. Sprinter J J Williams was a master of the kick ahead, but Savea set up yet another try at the weekend with a well-timed and well-placed little chip. He sees the space and is extremely hard to bump off line when chasing through.
Teams are becoming ever more afraid, but still no one has found a way to stop Savea. "The bus smashed the chariot" was one British headline after New Zealand beat England last year. Already Savea has scored 19 tries in 20 internationals and he hasn't even touched his full potential.
The Canes are still working on Savea's defence and maybe he was caught out against the Blues at the weekend. But it is hard to cover the corner when you are also using your power to guard the fringes of the breakdown.
Alama Ieremia thinks that Savea is more like Tana Umaga than Lomu, but he is both and therefore more. You think of Brian Lima, the chiropractor, and the brutal Samoa team of '91. Savea is of that heritage but, with Jane and Conrad Smith lighting the way, he is already street smart.
Many of the top teams at next year's World Cup will use players of Pacific ancestry to break open stingy defences. England have the Vunipolas and Tuilagi, Australia have Israel Folau, Wales have Toby Faletau. In another four years Ireland may have Bundee Aki and France may have a whole team of Pacific game breakers.
But in 2015 the All Blacks will have a player like no one else. Australia have won both the World Cups to be played in Britain, a significant record, but I would rather have Savea in my team than Folau. One is a superb athlete, the other is also becoming a superb rugby player.
- © Fairfax NZ News
