Pure class from Ardie Savea.
New Zealand No.8 Ardie Savea settled the question on who had the edge between himself and Caelan Doris, and helped his country reach another World Cup semi final.
Savea scored a first half try and was immense across the park for the All Blacks as they defeated Ireland 28-24 in the World Cup quarter final.
“There was a lot riding on this week,” Savea said, after picking up the Man of the Match award. “It was one of those Test matches that was a battle. To go out there and play against a world-class Irish squad… incredibly proud.”
While the interviewer wanted to look ahead to the semi-final against Argentina, Savea made a point to pay a wonderful tribute to Ireland, their beaten foes.
Ardie Savea salutes Ireland
Ardie Savea was asked about the yellow cards that Codie Taylor and Aaron Smith received, and remarked, “To be honest, I kind of didn’t notice.
“We just had to dig deep into our [All] blackness, and we got through in the end.”
Savea had previously lost four of his seven Test outings against Ireland and, ahead of the game, credited them for driving his New Zealand side to new levels. After the ABs’ win, he declared:
“We gave the fans what they wanted, but a big testament to this Irish team.
“They have set the line up and the standard, this whole year. I just want to send love to them. I am just so proud of my boys.”
"We gave the fans what they wanted. Big testament to this Irish team, they've set the standard this whole year."
Player of the Match Ardie Savea speaking after that epic contest in Paris.#IREvNZL | #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/ft69AinLsq
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) October 14, 2023
While Ireland must now go home – Josh van der Flier said the players will have to “batter the heads off each other” back at their provinces – Ardie Savea and New Zealand are off to a World Cup semi-final.
A classy character, on and off the pitch.
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