‘Razor must pick Ardie at openside’

Justin Marshall and Josh Kronfeld are leading calls to shift Ardie Savea back to openside flank for the All Blacks.

The 31-year-old won the 2023 World Rugby Player of the Year award after playing No 8 under then All Blacks coach Ian Foster, and was kept there by new boss Scott Robertson during the 2024 Test season.

Savea, though, has starred at club level as an opensider, and produced one of the all-time great Super Rugby performances in Moana Pasifika’s first-ever win against the Blues last week.

Savea made 19 ball-carries, nine tackles and won three turnovers, including a crucial one on the stroke of full time.

“I don’t want to be a smart-arse, but I can’t help myself. I’ve been saying for three years now that Ardie Savea is an openside flanker,” Marshall told SportNation radio.

“Nobody seemed to want to listen. Particularly All Blacks coaches. The more I see him on the side of the scrum, and the way that the rest of the loose forward trio balances out, and the player that he is in that jersey, the more it is glaringly obvious to me that Scott Robertson needs to pick him in that shirt.

“He’s a unique player is Ardie Savea. But what he does do really well is he does have the ability to slightly change the picture in the way he’s playing. But his natural instinct is to gravitate to the ball, because that’s where he’s strong.

“Either offensively or defensively, that is where he’s at his most destructive. Openside flankers gravitate to the ball, they want to be first, second arriving player the majority of the time. If Ardie’s going to that zone, he’s picking and going and carrying with his leg drive and pump, that’s where he’s devastating. He’s hard to get to ground.

“If he’s there as a defender, how good is he over the ball? And how hard is he to move? We saw that last night. For the majority of the game, that’s where he’s at, which suits the jersey number.

“Then he has the ability, when he sees others, going to that zone, getting over the ball, or cleaning the ruck, and he’s outside of that pattern, then he’s got that ability to play second, third receiver and do things that he’s been doing for Moana Pasifika, like chipping through the line and gathering that.

“His ability to be able to do that and balance his game out is perfectly suited to that shirt.”

Meanwhile, former All Blacks opensider Kronfeld told Stuff.co.nz “it’s a no-brainer” for Savea to wear the All Blacks No 7 jersey when he’s shooting out the lights there in Super Rugby.

“He’s been doing the No 8 thing for the All Blacks very well; that creates a comfort and you do what you know.

“But he’s been playing openside week-in, week-out and just growing and growing. You could almost argue he’s the Ardie of old. And it’s fantastic to watch.

“I think it’s a no-brainer to have him playing at No 7. Especially when he’s playing it so well.”

MORE: I’ll run through brick walls – Savea

Kronfeld said Savea had the rare ability to take his game to another level at the flick of a switch.