He’s had a sabbatical in Japan and is playing under a new coaching regime at the All Blacks, but for Ardie Savea the pain of the World Cup final loss still lingers.
Tomorrow's Test against England in Dunedin will be the All Blacks’ first match since that fateful night in Paris in early November when Savea – the on-field captain in the absence of the red-carded Sam Cane – rallied his team in near hopeless circumstances to almost beat the Boks.
The details will be etched in the consciousness of most All Blacks’ fans. Needless to say, Savea hasn’t fully recovered from the 12-11 defeat.
Asked whether Scott Robertson and his coaching assistants had spoken about putting a line under that Test, Savea replied: “We haven’t touched on it but I don’t think we need to touch on it."
“For the majority of us that played at the World Cup, it still lingers within us. Everyone deals with it differently but some of us hold on to that and use it as motivation and not let it happen again or experience that feeling.”
Asked whether his time away in Japan playing under Dave Rennie at Kobe Steelers helped him forget about it, Savea said: “It always lingers.”
The match under the roof on Saturday will only be Savea’s second in New Zealand this year. His first was for his old Wellington club Oriental Rongotai recently.
“I’m nervous,” he said. “But nerves bring the best out of us. It’s a great challenge for myself to step forward and try to own it on the field. It’s going to be tough but I’ll back myself.”
Savea and his fellow loose forwards Dalton Papali’i, and Samipeni Finau, the latter playing in only his second Test, are up against a robust England loose trio including No.8 Ben Earl, a standout at last year’s World Cup where England were narrowly beaten by the Boks in the semifinal.
“They’re direct,” Savea said of the England pack. “They’re strong at set piece and mauling. In the past they’ve had success going through us.”
However, he can take comfort in the prospect of playing alongside his old Hurricanes teammate TJ Perenara, back from an Achilles injury.
“I always knew,” Savea said of Perenara’s remarkable comeback from an injury suffered at the end of 2022. “If there’s one person you want by your side it’s Pere."
“He’ll never take no for an answer. He’s the most competitive person I know. For him to come back, it’s not surprising for those who know him. He’s got a lot of mana in this team. When he speaks everyone listens. I missed him, it’s good to have him back.”
And then there is Finau, the big Chiefs hit man who made himself known to several Super Rugby first-fives this past season.
“He’s an amazing energiser in our team – he can change momentum with his defence, we’ve seen that in Super Rugby,” Savea said of Finau. “He’s the quietest man off the field but when he gets on there he’s dangerous.”
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