Julian Savea

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Julian Savea

Wellington, New Zealand
Height	192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	103 kg (227 lb; 16 st 3 lb)
School	Rongotai College
Notable relative(s)	Ardie Savea (brother)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre Current team Wellington, Hurricanes Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2010–2017, 2020- Wellington 62 (115) 2011–2018, 2021-2023 Hurricanes 153 (305) 2018–2020 Toulon 41 (45) 2024- Moana Pasifika 8 (10) Correct as of 7 October 2023 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2010 New Zealand U20 4 (40) 2012–2017 New Zealand 54 (230) 2017 Barbarian F.C. 1 (0) Correct as of 22 October 2022 National sevens team Years Team Comps 2009 New Zealand 5 Correct as of 22 October 2022
Medal record Men's Rugby union Representing  New Zealand Rugby World Cup 2015 England Squad

Sio Julian Savea (born 7 August 1990) is a New Zealand professional

He has also represented New Zealand at sevens and at under-20 level. Savea is nicknamed "The Bus",^[1] a moniker bestowed by under-20s coach Dave Rennie.^[2] Savea was a key member of 2015 Rugby World Cup winning team, and was the highest try scorer of the tournament, with 8 tries. Savea is one of the highest try-scorers in New Zealand's history, scoring 46 through the duration of his international career.

Savea was nominated for

Early career

Savea attended

Savea scored 50 tries for the Hurricanes during his Super Rugby career, which ended in 2018 after his signing to Toulon. Savea played 116 games for the Hurricanes during his Super Rugby career and is one of the most-capped Super Rugby players in history. Savea played his final game for the Hurricanes during the 2018 Super Rugby season's semi-final, against the Crusaders, on 28 July when the Crusaders knocked the Hurricanes out of the competition, with the Hurricanes losing 12-30.

Wellington Lions

He marked his first-class debut in July 2010 with a length of the field runaway try that clinched an

Savea was not selected for the All Blacks for the 2017 Rugby Championship, therefore played his first game for Wellington in four years on the right wing as a result. Following an injury to Brad Shields, Savea took over the team as captain until Shields returned from injury.

In summer of 2023 Savea signed with Moana Pasifika, a team competing in the Super Rugby championship.

International career

All Blacks

Savea was named in the 2012 All Black squad, his first season of international rugby. On 9 June 2012, Savea scored three tries on his debut for the All Blacks against

Savea became a regular starter for the All Blacks across his first few years. In 2014, Savea was nominated for World Rugby's Player of the Year award, which was ultimately won by teammate Brodie Retallick.^[9]

Savea was named in the 31-man All Black squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, where he scored 8 tries across the tournament having played in many games throughout the tournament. Savea's 8 tries saw him equal the record for most tries in a single tournament, previously achieved by the late former All Black Jonah Lomu and South Africa's Bryan Habana. Two of these games played saw Savea score hat-tricks, including a quarter-final game against France. The hat-trick Savea scored against France saw him being compared to Lomu. Savea, having been one of the best-performing players of the tournament, was again nominated for World Rugby's "Player of The Year" award^[10] which was won by teammate Dan Carter, and was also the winner of "Try of The Year" for one of his tries against France in the World Cup.

Despite continuing to score tries in 2016, Savea was seriously out of form.^{[citation needed]} When Waisake Naholo was injury-free he was selected over Savea as the starting left wing, with Israel Dagg on the right wing. Savea continued to start internationally due to injuries to Naholo and Nehe Milner-Skudder, the latter of whom did not play internationally all year due to a shoulder reconstruction surgery. Savea came off the bench to become the fifth New Zealander to score 40 tries in international rugby when he touched down against Australia in Sydney on 20 August 2016. Savea was the fastest to do so, as this was his 44th match. He overtook former All Black wing Joe Rokocoko's record of 40 tries from 46 tests as the All Blacks won against the Wallabies 42-8.

On 16 June 2017, Savea charged his way over the chalk against Samoa marking his 46th test try during the 78-0 win. This made Savea the second-highest try scorer of any All Black, tying with Rokocoko and former All Blacks fullback Christian Cullen.

Savea lost his starting spot in the All Blacks to rookie Blues wing

Despite numerous injuries to the All Blacks' outside backs in the 2017 season, Savea was not re-called for international rugby, with Seta Tamanivalu, David Havili and Matt Duffie preferred as injury cover for the 2017 end-of-season tour squad over Savea. This prompted Savea to play for the Barbarians Club against his former All Blacks team-mates on 5 November 2017. Savea played the full 80 minutes for the Barbarians but failed to make an impact, with Crusaders winger and Barbarians team-mate George Bridge overshadowing Savea and scoring two tries as the Barbarians lost 22-31 to the All Blacks, who featured Savea's younger brother Ardie Savea.

International tries

Try	Opponent	Location	Venue	Competition	Date	Result
1, 2, 3	Ireland	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park	Mid-year rugby test series	9 June 2012	Won
4	Argentina	Wellington, New Zealand	Westpac Stadium	Rugby Championship	8 September 2012	Won
5, 6	Argentina	La Plata, Argentina	Estadio Ciudad de La Plata	Rugby Championship	29 September 2012	Won
7, 8	Scotland	Edinburgh, Scotland	Murrayfield Stadium	End-of-year rugby test series	11 November 2012	Won
9, 10	Italy	Rome, Italy	Stadio Olimpico	End-of-year rugby test series	17 November 2012	Won
11, 12	England	London, England	Twickenham Stadium	End-of-year rugby test series	1 December 2012	Lost
13	France	Christchurch, New Zealand	AMI Stadium	Mid-year rugby test series	15 June 2013	Won
14	Argentina	Hamilton, New Zealand	Waikato Stadium	Rugby Championship	7 September 2013	Won
15	Argentina	La Plata, Argentina	Estadio Ciudad de La Plata	Rugby Championship	29 September 2013	Won
16	Australia	Dunedin, New Zealand	Forsyth Barr Stadium	End-of-year rugby test series	19 October 2013	Won
17, 18	England	London, England	Twickenham Stadium	End-of-year rugby test series	16 November 2013	Won
19	Ireland	Dublin, Ireland	Aviva Stadium	End-of-year rugby test series	24 November 2013	Won
20	England	Dunedin, New Zealand	Forsyth Barr Stadium	Mid-year rugby test series	14 June 2014	Won
21, 22, 23	England	Hamilton, New Zealand	Waikato Stadium	Mid-year rugby test series	21 June 2014	Won
24	Australia	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park	Rugby Championship	23 August 2014	Won
25, 26	Argentina	Napier, New Zealand	McLean Park	Rugby Championship	6 September 2014	Won
27	Argentina	La Plata, Argentina	Estadio Ciudad de La Plata	Rugby Championship	27 September 2014	Won
28, 29	United States	Chicago, USA	Soldier Field	End-of-year rugby test series	2 November 2014	Won
30	Wales	Cardiff, Wales	Millennium Stadium	End-of-year rugby test series	23 November 2014	Won
31, 32	Namibia	London, England	London Stadium	2015 Rugby World Cup	24 September 2015	Won
33, 34, 35	Georgia	Cardiff, Wales	Millennium Stadium	2015 Rugby World Cup	2 October 2015	Won
36, 37, 38	France	Cardiff, Wales	Millennium Stadium	2015 Rugby World Cup	17 October 2015	Won
39	Wales	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park	Mid-year rugby test series	11 June 2016	Won
40	Australia	Sydney, Australia	ANZ Stadium	Rugby Championship	20 August 2016	Won
41	Australia	Wellington, New Zealand	Westpac Stadium	Rugby Championship	27 August 2016	Won
42	Argentina	Hamilton, New Zealand	Waikato Stadium	Rugby Championship	10 September 2016	Won
43	South Africa	Christchurch, New Zealand	AMI Stadium	Rugby Championship	17 September 2016	Won
44, 45	Australia	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park	End-of-year rugby test series	22 October 2016	Won
46	Samoa	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park	Mid-year rugby test series	16 June 2017	Won

New Zealand U20

Julian Savea was named the 2010 IRB Junior Player of the Year. He was the star of the IRB World U20 tournament, scoring eight tries in three games; he scored four tries in one match against Samoa, and two each against Wales and South Africa. Savea featured on the right wing for New Zealand in the 2010 World U20 tournament.

New Zealand Sevens

Savea debuted for the New Zealand Sevens team at the 2009 Dubai Sevens, and played in the Sevens tournaments at Hong Kong, Adelaide, London and Scotland.

Honours

Team

Hurricanes

New Zealand

Individual

IRB Player of the Year - Nominee - 2014, 2015

Personal life

Savea is of

In April 2013 Savea was charged over a domestic violence incident involving his partner.[13] The charges were later withdrawn after Savea completed police diversion.^[14] Savea had previously appeared on posters for an anti-domestic violence campaign, 'It's Not OK'.^[15]

In December 2015, Savea married his girlfriend of 3 years, Fatima.^[16][17] The couple announced via Instagram that they were expecting their first child in December 2017. Their daughter, Jude Telesia Savea was born on 7 December 2017.

References