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Julian Savea primed for Toulon return
By Online Editors
Former All Black Julian Savea is set to make his return from French club Toulon after missing more than a month of action.
Savea was granted leave to attend All Black brother Ardie's wedding in Fiji, which took place earlier this month.
Savea last played for Toulon in the side's Heineken Cup victory over Montpellier on December 8, and French paper L'Equipe has reported that the 28-year-old is expected to play their next game - a Heineken Cup fixture against Edinburgh - this weekend.
The 54-test veteran could be in line for a start in his comeback appearance, with Toulon struck with a slew of injuries in the backline.
Savea's mid-season leave caused backlash from Toulon fans, to which his wife responded.
"Let me set the record straight," Fatima Saveam - Julian's wife - tweeted. "Before Julian signed his contract he asked for time off in December to attend his ONLY brother's wedding. So this was agreed upon by both the club and Julian or else Julian would not have come to Toulon in September and instead in January."
The club need a big performance out of Savea should he play, as they come up against a tough Edinburgh side. The Scottish club are currently at the top of their Champions Cup pool, while beleaguered Toulon have notched just a solitary win from their four fixtures and sit at the bottom of the pool.
Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill - a former assistant at Toulon - has insisted the French club's home ground is "one of the toughest places in the world" to get an away win, and said a win at the weekend would be one of his club's finest for the season.
The two sides met last October, with Edinburgh emerging victorious in a one-sided 40-14 affair.
"They were in a state of flux, had a lot of injuries and didn't bring anywhere near their best team," Cockerill told BBC Sport. "But they have got some world-class players and will be much better."
"I know Toulon well enough to know they will never want to lose at home; that will be a big driver for them."
"The quality of their individuals is far beyond what we have got, but the quality of our team spirit and organisation and the sum of our parts, as ever, is going to have to be the key decider.
"We don't rely on individuals, we rely on the team, whereas probably they rely on their individual brilliance much of the time."
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Latest Comments
Can’t wait. Hard to call even with Munster being away. La Rochelle have been so off the boil recently.
Go to commentsPep didn’t win the ECL in 2009. It was 2008 with Barca. The gap between wins ignores the finals contested. 2 in 2 years with his City Triumph. The most recent put him in the elite company of managers to have won it with multiple clubs. Yet more late career success and history.
His time with City - a lower win ratio compared to Bayern Munich as you say - includes a 100 PT season. A feat that will likely never be surpassed. I appreciate you don’t follow soccer too closely but even casual fans refer to the sport in ‘pre and post Pep’ terms and all because of what he has achieved and is continuing to achieve, late career. There is a reason that even U10’s play out from the back now at every level of the game. That’s also a fairly recent development.
How refreshing to return to rugby on a rugby forum.
Ireland won a long over due slam in 2009. The last embers of a golden generation was kicked on by a handful of young new players and a new senior coach. Kiss was brought in as defence coach and was the reason they won it. They’d the best defence in the game at the time. He all but invented the choke tackle. Fittingly they backed it up in the next world cup in their 2011 pool match against… Australia. The instantly iconic image of Will Genia getting rag-dolled by Stephen Ferris.
His career since has even included director of rugby positions. He would have an extremely good idea of where the game is at and where it is going in addition to governance experience and dealings. Not least in Oz were many of the players will have come via or across Rugby League pathways.
Gatland isn’t a valid coach to compare too. He only ever over-achieved and was barely schools level without Shaun Edwards at club or test level. His return to Wales simply exposed his limitations and a chaotic union. It wasn’t age.
Schmidt is open to staying involved in a remote capacity which I think deserves more attention. It would be a brain drain to lose him. He stepped in to coach the ABs in the first 2022 test against Ireland when Foster was laid out with Covid. They mullered Ireland 42-19. He was still heavily involved in the RWC 2023 quarter final. Same story.
Look at the talent that would be discarded in Schmidt and Kiss if your age Nazism was applied.
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