The now 67-times capped loosie made his debut against Wales on their 2016 tour down under in the opening Test in Auckland. He played in two of the three Tests in the All Blacks’ 3-0 series win and made his debut at Principality Stadium in last year’s 54-16 victory.
He took up where his elder brother, Julian, had left off against Wales. Julian managed seven tries in four wins against the men in red and the family tally now reads a magnificent seven out of seven, with eight tries.
“The atmosphere, the Welsh side, what happened last year. We know they will be bottling that up and wanting to come smack us,” said Savea ahead of Saturday’s opening game in the 2022 Autumn Nations Series.
“For us it’s about building that knot in the gut through the week, so that we come and are ready.”
Savea hasn’t played since the 40-14 win over the Wallabies in Auckland on 24 September 24. He looks set to play at the weekend, especially with skipper Sam Cane ruled out of the tour with a double fracture of the cheekbone from last weekend’s 28-31 win in Japan.
Dalton Papali’i has been drafted in to replace Cane, while either Shannon Frizell or Akira Ioane could take over from the injured Ethan Blackadder and start at No 6.
With the World Cup only a year away, Ian Foster’s men will get the chance to avenge their semi-final defeat in Japan in 2019 when they meet England in their final tour match this month. First up, though, will be trying to extend a run of wins over Wales that stretches back to 1953.
“I don’t think we are thinking about the World Cup. As an All Blacks squad, we are just wanting to make a statement here in Europe,” he added.
“The teams we are playing against, we just want to play well and perform well. I don’t think we are wanting to perform well so we can go into the World Cup feeling comfortable.
“For us, with the year we have had, we just want to stamp the foot down and be consistent in our performances and be proud of that.”
