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

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. He currently plays wing for in

Super Rugby Aotearoa Super Rugby Aotearoa currently named the Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship purposes is a professional men's rugby union national club competition in New Zealand. Originally created to supplement the 2020 Super Rugby season, which was sus ...

. Savea formerly played for in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

, and is a former captain of the

Wellington Lions The Wellington Rugby Football Union (known as the Wellington Lions for competition reasons) are a New Zealand governing body of rugby union in the New Zealand province of Wellington Region. The main stadium is Sky Stadium (formerly named West ...

in the

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

. Between 2012 and 2017 he won 54 caps for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He has also represented New Zealand at sevens and at under-20 level. Savea is nicknamed "The Bus", a moniker bestowed by under-20s coach

Dave Rennie Dave Rennie (born 22 November 1963) is a New Zealand and Cook Islands professional rugby union coach and former player who is the head coach of the Australia national rugby union team, having previously coached New Zealand sides the Chiefs, , ...

. Savea was a key member of

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

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

World Rugby Player of the Year The World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year is an accolade awarded annually by World Rugby at the World Rugby Awards. The award is presented to honour "the achievements of those involved at the highest level of the world game on the field". Th ...

in 2014 and 2015, winning the award for Try of the Year in 2015.

Early career

Savea attended

Rongotai College Rongotai College is a state single-sex boys' secondary school in the southeastern suburb of Rongotai, Wellington, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18), the school has 622 students as of July 2015. About 40 per cent of the student ...

in Wellington, New Zealand. In 2008, Savea made the New Zealand secondary schools team and the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

academy squad. In 2009, Savea debuted for the

New Zealand sevens The New Zealand national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. They have won a record twelve World Rugby Sevens Series titles. The team has been o ...

at the 2009 Adelaide Sevens. In 2010, Savea was selected for the New Zealand U-20 team to play at the

2010 IRB Junior World Championship The 2010 IRB Junior World Championship was the third annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby's ...

in Argentina. He scored 8 tries in the tournament which New Zealand won and was named IRB Junior Player of the year. Savea was rewarded for his good form by being picked in the 2010 Wellington Lions squad to play in the 2010 ITM Cup. In 2010 Savea was touted as 'the next

Jonah Lomu Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand professional rugby union player. Lomu is considered to have been the first true global superstar of rugby, and consequently had a huge impact on the game. He is widely regarde ...

Domestic career

Hurricanes

In 2012, Savea played in his second season for the Hurricanes. While he had a quiet 2011 season, his 2012 form earned him a call-up into the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

for the three-test series with Ireland. Savea had a poor season in 2016 and was benched for the Hurricanes' last 3 matches of the season in the knockout rounds, with Jason Woodward, former All Black Cory Jane and James Marshall the team's preferred back three players by the end of the season. Savea was also benched for the semi-final against the Lions in Johannesburg the following year after Vince Aso returned from injury. Savea had been quiet all season, with Wes Goosen replacing him as the starting left wing for the draw to the Lions. 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 The 2018 Super Rugby season was the 23rd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. After two seasons in which 18 teams participate ...

'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

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

pre-season win for the

over

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. He started on the right wing in 12 of 14 ITM Cup games, scoring a further eight tries including a try on championship debut against Tasman and two more the following week against

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

. 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.

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

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the

first test ''First Test'', is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the first book in the series ''Protector of the Small The ''Protector of the Small'' quartet is a series of books written by Tamora Pierce that tells the story of Keladry of Mindelan, a h ...

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...

. He is the first All Black to score three tries against Ireland in a test match, and the fourth to score three tries on his All Black test debut. Since his debut, Savea has been one of the most prolific tryscorers in international rugby. 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 Brodie Allan Retallick (born 31 May 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer, who plays as a lock for the Chiefs in Super Rugby and is part of the squad for New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition. Retallick ...

. Savea was named in the 31-man All Black squad for the

, 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

and South Africa's

Bryan Habana Bryan Gary Habana OIS (born 12 June 1983) is a South African former professional rugby union player who initially played as an outside centre but later on, he shifted to the wing. He most recently played for Toulon in the French Top 14 competit ...

. 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 which was won by teammate

Dan Carter Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Carter played for Crusaders (Super Rugby) in New Zealand and played for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in ...

, 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. When

Waisake Naholo Waisake Ratunideuba Naholo (born 8 May 1991 Sigatoka, Fiji) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He previously played for the All Blacks Sevens and on the wing (and occasionally centre) position for London Irish. In May 2022 he signed with Rugby ...

was injury-free he was selected over Savea as the starting left wing, with

Israel Dagg Israel Jamahl Akuhata Dagg (born 6 June 1988) is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played for the Crusaders in Super Rugby. He has also played for the New Zealand Sevens team, and represents Hawkes Bay in the ITM Cup. Dagg played in ...

on the right wing. Savea continued to start internationally due to injuries to Naholo and

Nehe Milner-Skudder Nehe Rihara Milner-Skudder (born 15 December 1990) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays for the Rugby New York. He was selected for the All Blacks in 2015, and was a key member of 2015 Rugby World Cup winning team. He scored ...

, 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 Josevata Taliga "Joe" Rokocoko (pronounced , born 6 June 1983) is a New Zealand former professional rugby union player, who played as a wing. Born in Fiji, Rokocoko grew up in New Zealand and played for the Blues and Auckland. He later played f ...

'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 Christian Mathias Cullen (born 12 February 1976) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. He played most of his rugby at fullback for New Zealand (the All Blacks), for the Hurricanes in the Super 12, and for Manawatu, Wellington and later ...

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

Rieko Ioane Rieko Edward Ioane (; born 18 March 1997) is a New Zealand professional rugby union footballer who plays as a wing or as a centre for New Zealand team Blues in Super Rugby and the New Zealand national team. In his youth career, he was select ...

for the first two tests against the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

in 2017, but started in the third test on 8 July 2017, for his final appearance in the black jersey, following injury to Waisake Naholo and Ioane having illness. Savea played badly, botching a potential try and being exploited on defence. After poor performances across the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Savea was dropped from the All Blacks squad for the 2017 Rugby Championship when the team was named on his 27th birthday, with Ioane, Naholo and Hurricanes team-mate Nehe Milner-Skudder all recovering from injury and illness. 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 David Kaetau Havili (born 23 December 1994) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a fullback, centre or first five-eighth for in the Bunnings NPC and the in the Super Rugby competition. Early career Havili is of Pāk ...

and

Matt Duffie Matthew David Duffie (born 16 August 1990) is a New Zealand professional rugby footballer who plays rugby union for the Blues in Super Rugby. He previously played rugby league with the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League and was a ...

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 George Crispin Bridge (born 1 April 1995) is a New Zealand people, New Zealand Rugby Union, rugby union player who currently plays as an Wing (rugby union), outside back for in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and for the in the internat ...

overshadowing Savea and scoring two tries as the Barbarians lost 22-31 to the All Blacks, who featured Savea's younger brother

Ardie Savea Ardie Suemalo Savea (born 14 October 1993) is a rugby union player who plays as a flanker or number 8 for in the ITM Cup, the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and international rugby for the New Zealand All Blacks. Savea was a member of New Zealan ...

International tries

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.

Personal life

Savea is of Samoan descent. His younger brother

Ardie Ardie was a company in Nürnberg, Germany that manufactured motorcycles from 1919 until 1958. The company's name derives from that of its founder, Arno Dietrich. At first Ardie made motorcycles with its own 288cc and 304cc single cylinder two- ...

is also a and All Blacks player. In April 2013 Savea was charged over a domestic violence incident involving his partner. The charges were later withdrawn after Savea completed police diversion. Savea had previously appeared on posters for an anti-domestic violence campaign, 'It's Not OK'. In December 2015, Savea married his girlfriend of 3 years, Fatima. The couple announced via Instagram that they are expecting their first child in December 2017. Their daughter, Jude Telesia Savea was born on 7 December 2017.

References

External links

*
All Blacks sevens profile

Hurricanes profile

Wellington profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savea, Julian 1990 births Living people Rugby union wings Rugby union centres New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Wellington rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Rugby union players from Wellington City People educated at Rongotai College New Zealand international rugby sevens players RC Toulonnais players