Julian Savea: Being compared to Jonah Lomu is 'awesome'
Sunday 18 October 2015 15:37, UK
Julian Savea says it is "awesome" to be compared to Jonah Lomu - but says no-one can come close to the All Blacks great.
The hulking Savea scored a hat-trick as New Zealand hammered France 62-13 in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final in Cardiff on Saturday night.
The winger, nicknamed the 'Big Black Bus', was in devastating form, with his pace and power leaving a trail of destruction around the Millennium Stadium.
It is the massive figure of Lomu - who single-handedly destroyed England more than once in the 1990s - that Savea has been compared to most frequently but Saturday's triple took him past the All Black great's career tally of 37 tries in 68 internationals with an astonishing 38 in just 39 matches for his country.
He has scored eight tries in the World Cup so far and, with two matches still potentially ahead of him, Savea has equalled the competition record set by Lomu in 1995 and matched by South African Bryan Habana in 2007.
"I think everyone was on fire today, the whole team," Savea said. "I was really proud of the boys from the first minute to the last, it was an excellent performance.
"I've always said that no one can come close to Jonah, he's amazing. I wouldn't say it's pressure to have comparisons. I watched him in every home game in Wellington running over people like little kids.
"It's awesome to be compared to him and it's an honour but I'm just doing my job as best I can."
The most Lomu-esque of his tries on Saturday was his second, when he smashed through two defenders before going over the line in the corner in the grasp of a third Frenchman.
"I was eager to get to the try line, whoever was in my way, I just reacted to what was in front of me," he said.
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw very much enjoyed the sight of Savea going at full pelt.
"It's great to see Julian play like that," he said. "I know I've been on the receiving end of trying to tackle him when he's running hard, he's a pretty tough man to tackle so it was great to see that.
"You can see the grin from ear-to-ear with Jules in the shed, he's pretty happy, which he deserves to be."
