All Black great calls for Ardie Savea to be dropped to the bench
Ex-New Zealand international Jeff Wilson believes that the All Blacks would be improved by making star back-rower Ardie Savea an impact replacement.
The Hurricanes’ number eight was comfortably the team’s best player in 2022, despite the struggles they endured.
On the basis of those performances, Ian Foster would be reluctant to change it too much, but Wilson believes that the Chiefs’ Luke Jacobson is a better fit for the All Blacks.
Physicality
“I’m going to throw it in right now, I’m changing our number eight,” Wilson said on The Breakdown. “I’m actually changing the makeup of our bench, I believe that’s how we’ll win the World Cup.
“Around the world, the globe and how the game’s being played, the nature of the physicality you need, if you want to be a defensive dominant team, your loose forwards have to be big men.
“You look at all the top sides around the world, their number eights are big, big men.
“When we moved Ardie Savea to number eight, it was because we didn’t have a solution in that position.
“(We need) specialists in specialist positions. For me, I’m looking at a guy like Luke Jacobson… his consistency, his size, his ability to hit – I’m looking at a change.
“I want impact from the bench, and it’s Ardie Savea for me.
“I’m changing the dynamic we’re looking for. If we go back and look at our success, what did we have? We had Richie McCaw, we had Kieran Read and Jerome Kaino, who could all hit, could all carry and had relentless physicality for the course of the 80 minutes they played.”
Savea started off as an impact player before cementing himself in the XV ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Following the retirement of Kieran Read, he switched to number eight and has starred for the All Blacks over the past few years.
With the best teams in the world favouring size at the base of the scrum, Wilson insists that it is time for the 29-year-old to revert to the bench.
“Remarkable athlete”
“Ardie is a remarkable athlete. He plays full on for 80 minutes, (but) the last 30 minutes is where we’ll win Test matches,” he added.
“His impact off the bench will be greater than his first 60 minutes starting. I honestly believe that.
“For 10, 15, 20 minutes, if you ask him to replace Sam Cane – absolutely. I have no issue with him in the number seven position or at number eight, depending on what you’re needing. He’s (also) played number six for the All Blacks.
“But for pure size, I’m looking on both sides of the ball, I’m looking at what France have, what Ireland have, it’s size.
“South Africa, what we’re going to face in the quarter-final, those three teams (have size). And (Australia’s) Rob Valetini, when he played for the Brumbies against the Chiefs, was awesome.
“These are big men, who are 112 or 114 kg that can shift. They don’t need footwork, there’s no footwork required here. It’s ‘I’ve got the ball, and I’m going forward’, which is what you need.
“We need players to get over the advantage line so that we can unleash these backs that we’ve got.”
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