Dave Rennie contemplating ‘long-term plan’ for Ardie Savea ahead of All Blacks Tests against Springboks
All Blacks skipper Ardie Savea and head coach Dave Rennie (inset).
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has revealed that he is contemplating a long-term management plan for Ardie Savea’s workload which could see him being rested for the early part of New Zealand’s gruelling tour of South Africa.
Last month, Rennie guided the Kobelco Kobe Steelers to a Japan Rugby League One championship and had Savea in his squad during that triumphant campaign which means the new All Blacks boss is perfectly placed to assess the 2023 World Rugby Player of the Year’s physical and mental energy levels.
Savea, who was recently appointed as the All Blacks‘ new captain, led the men in black to a hard-fought 34-32 victory over France in their opening Nations Championship Test in Christchurch last weekend.
The 32-year-old captained the All Blacks from the number eight position against Les Bleus alongside Luke Jacobson and Peter Lakai, who started on the openside and blindside respectively in an exciting back-row.
Savea to skipper All Blacks against Italy
This Saturday, Savea will lead New Zealand against Italy in their second Nations Championship Test in Wellington before they take on Ireland in that competition’s third Test in Auckland on July 18.
New Zealand will then head out to South Africa in early August where they will take on all four of the United Rugby Championship sides ahead of three clashes with the Springboks in Johannesburg (twice) and Cape Town before Baltimore hosts the fourth and final Test on September 12.
Rennie named his matchday squad for his team’s clash against the Azzurri on Thursday and was asked whether he thought about resting his skipper for that encounter.
“We’ve certainly talked long-term about Ardie,” he replied. “He’s been going for a lot of months. Obviously, we managed him very well in Kobe to make sure he could come back and be ready to go in this series.
“The plan is we’ll play him in these three Tests and we might delay his start in Africa.
“We’ll make a call on that in the next week or so.”
Rennie has made five changes to his starting line-up for the Italy clash with Savea retaining his spot at number eight alongside Jacobson while Wallace Sititi has replaced Lakai.
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Fitness scare ahead of France Test
There was some concern over Savea’s fitness in the warm-up to the Test against France when he went down with an apparent off-the-ball injury while taking part in a defensive drill.
It turned out that Savea had sustained an issue with a nerve in his groin which made his thigh numb.
However, it proved to be a temporary knock and he made a quick recovery before playing the entire 80 minutes of Rennie’s first match in charge of the All Blacks.
While Savea is set to start against both Italy and Ireland, don’t be surprised if he does not play the full 80 minutes against the Azzurri with uncapped Blues back-row Anton Segner likely to come on to make his Test debut off the bench at some stage of that clash.
That would allow New Zealand captain to have an extended break ahead of the four Tests against the Springboks.
The All Blacks are set to face the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls before the first Test against the world champions in Johannesburg on August 23.
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