Julian Savea, the All Blacks winger, expects the Australian Super Rugby teams, the teams that were unable to win a single, solitary game against the Kiwi Super Rugby teams last year, to stage a dramatic revival in 2018.
More dramatic, Mr. Savea, than the Wallabies close dead rubber win in the 2017 Bledisloe Cup?
It would not take much to make a revival a reality.
Win two games this year.
Savea plays for the Hurricanes and his prediction is that the 26-game undefeated streak is not going to persist much longer.
That is the sort of prediction that is safe, because you can simply keep making it until it proves true.
Part of Savea’s belief might simply be that with the demise of the Western Force, the Australian talent is now concentrated amongst four teams, rather than five. That proposition is a bit iffy, but if Australian rugby has been successful in its efforts to improve, with the Melbourne Rebels leading the charge, and a former Kiwi now heading up the Australian rugby effort, Savea’s prediction might prove clairvoyant.
Savea actually said that it was not healthy for New Zealand teams to win all the time. That point is valid, since Australia has more rugby fans than New Zealand has total population.
Rugby player logic might seem a bit of an oxymoron, but if Super Rugby is going to survive, a more competitive competition is imperative.
In remarks published by the AAP, Savea said, “I’ve always thought the Australians have been competitive … I guess we missed that a little bit last year.But now the teams are looking stronger and with the depth in those squads, it’s going to be more competitive — which I love, and I’m pretty sure the rest of the New Zealand and South African teams love.It’s only going to be good for the tournament. It’s better for everyone.”
Savea is hopeful or regaining his spot on the Kiwi Test side, but is not pinning his self-esteem on that happening. “Even if I do play good it’s not guaranteed. I’m just going to play the best I can and have fun and if it happens, it happens.”
