The 'very different' leadership style that Savea will bring All Blacks
Ardie Savea will captain New Zealand for the first time next Sunday when the All Blacks face Australia in their Rugby Championship Test at Optus Stadium in Perth.
Savea, who is set to make his 53rd appearance for New Zealand, will take on the role after stand-in skipper Sam Whitelock and first-choice halves Richie Mo'unga and Aaron Smith were left out of the squad with the players expecting babies.
Regular captain Sam Cane is currently sidelined due to injury while Brodie Retallick and Beauden Barrett have been named vice-captains.
"Ardie has been a key part of our leadership group and I love that he has a very different style of leadership," All Blacks head coach Ian Foster told Newstalk ZB.
"He's very empathetic, he's got a great affinity right across the group and reads the group well from a family and emotional side, and I think that's a really important quality to have in the situation we're in.
"Over the last few years he's really started to grow into an influence role in terms of looking at ways we can actually use his voice and his behaviour to impact this team, and I think he's done a really good job of it."
The All Blacks are facing a three-month stint on the road due to their involvement in The Rugby Championship, which will conclude in Queensland after the Wallabies game in Perth, followed by tour matches in the northern hemisphere.
New Zealand take on Australia on Sunday having won 57-22 at Eden Park earlier in the month.
The win in Auckland also kept the Bledisloe Cup, the annual trophy contested by the trans-Tasman nations, in New Zealand hands for a 19th successive year.
Latest Comments
Even with absences we still had the cattle to make the playoffs. As it was, we nearly stumbled our way into the top 8. Which shows just how easy it was to get there. And still we failed. As for Razor, there are many instances of him patching up the Crusaders roster. Numerous. Several players I'd never heard of. Also, using AB legend John Afoa was a classic.
But, some of the games we were losing were from schoolboy errors, or downright confusion. Either the players were really dumb (they weren’t) or they were poorly coached. Given the repetitive nature of errors, brain fades, poor decision making, & loose structures, this all lands with the coaching group.
With only six playoff spots now in SR, & Aussie franchises now consolidated to four, 2025 looks like a tight one. I'm picking we'll have to tough it out under Penney & hope for the best.
Go to commentsAgree we need a 10, 12, 13 refresh. ASAP. Well, next season now lol. Reiko should be put back on the wing. He'll be an absolute menace there. Imagine 11 Reiko 14 Clarke 15 Jordan as the backfield unit.
Go to comments