08-05-2025
All Blacks legend says Ardie Savea is comparable to Jonah Lomu
Jerome Kaino, a man who set new standards as a loose forward enforcer during his 81 Tests for the All Blacks, has described Ardie Savea as a once-in-a-generation talent worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as the late, great Jonah Lomu.
Kaino, now a skills coach at Toulon in the south of France, was moved to tweet his admiration for the 31-year-old Savea after the Moana Pasifika's skipper's latest highlight reel of a performance in his team's 34-29 victory over the Highlanders at the weekend.
'Once in a generation! Jonah Lomu! Ardie Savea! Put that out in the media! Moana [Pasifika]. Loud and proud,' Kaino, who played his final Test in 2017, wrote.
Savea's feats on a weekly basis, and his consistency for the All Blacks over the last five years, have become so extraordinary that he is worthy of the discussion about where he fits in the big scheme of things – and there is little doubt he will finish his Test career as a genuine great.
At the very least, his achievements deserve to be celebrated as Kaino suggests because Savea makes the near impossible look almost the norm – so much so that they are in danger of being taken for granted.
And while Savea doesn't have the global reach of Lomu – the wing who died at the age of 40 in 2015 was rugby's first true superstar – he is admired around the world and probably more so, for a variety of reasons, in New Zealand.
Savea's form at openside flanker and leadership for his new Super Rugby Pacific side, who are in the playoffs mix for the first time, will inevitably lead to further scrutiny on not only whether he will wear the No.7 jersey for the All Blacks this year in the absence of Sam Cane but why he was not awarded the captaincy by head coach Scott Robertson in 2024.
Robertson, the former Crusaders head coach, selected Scott Barrett as his man last year but while the big lock performed well overall, some of his decision making was questionable (including in the narrow defeat to France in Paris), and he has admitted he has not played well for the red and blacks in 2025.
Meanwhile, Savea is showing that he thrives with the extra responsibility – albeit at Super Rugby level – and that it has in no way hindered his on-field ambition or creativity.
Just as Lomu could do things that most wings had never considered, flankers are not supposed to score tries such as the one Savea delivered against the Highlanders last weekend – a chip off the left foot while being squeezed by the defence, a touch off the knee to control the ball, and the pace to win the race to the ball over the line.
Few would have the ambition to even attempt it but for Savea it has become almost second nature. A week earlier against the Fijian Drua a similar effort from longer range was ruled out on the insistence of a television match official – the only sour note in a remarkable celebration of south Pacific rugby.
It should be remembered that while Savea can easily play all three loose forward positions, and indeed could probably do a decent job on the wing or in either midfield positions, his preferred place is at openside flanker.
Moving to No.8 after the retirement of former skipper Kieran Read at the end of 2019 was a compromise to allow new captain Cane to wear the No.7 jersey.
In the modern game there is not a huge amount of difference between 8 and 7 but, having played 94 Tests, Savea, who will be the senior loose forward this year, deserves to play in his preferred place.
The bigger question for Robertson, now that No.8 Wallace Sititi, World Rugby's breakthrough player of the year in 2024, is back playing for the Chiefs after making an earlier than expected comeback from a knee injury, is who will play blindside flanker.
Given Savea is 1.90m tall and Sititi is 1.87m, Robertson will need a tall No.6 who can provide another lineout option.
Chiefs flanker Samipeni Finau, at 1.93m, would fit that bill, although, after starting last year as Robertson's first-choice blindside, he perhaps did not make the most of his opportunities.
Dalton Papali'i started at No.7 in Robertson's first Test as All Blacks head coach – a narrow win over England in Dunedin – but also dropped out of favour and the man known as Razor went with the experience of Sam Cane despite the former skipper's announcement he was heading to Japan at year's end.
In the end, Robertson settled on Sititi at No.6, Cane at No.7 and Savea at No.8 as his preferred loose trio.
Hurricanes 22-year-old Peter Lakai made a promising start to his career in Europe at the end of the year but is still developing, while Chiefs flanker Luke Jacobson will remain in the mix but appears more of a bench option.
Crusader Ethan Blackadder's injury-riddled development has been further hampered by a hamstring problem.
It may be that 25-year-old Finau, a bruising defender, is a late developer. Ironically, Kaino will admit that he was just that. It could be that Finau will come good at the international level this year - starting in the three-Test series against France in July.
There is little doubt about who is in the ascendant, though.
That's Ardie Savea, the charismatic leader on his way to greatness - if he hasn't already got there.
