Who's better? Lomu or Savea?

[tituslechmakus]

Well as I said, it is a matter of how legendary the player is in his time. You can't compare eras. So for me, Lomu was much more legendary in his time than Savea is at the moment !

So he's better !

 

[j'nuh]

Putting a 24 year old in the same category as a legend of the game is just a bit premature, regardless of how good the player is. What separates the best players is the longevity of how great they were. Savea is not even halfway through his rugby career. Until Savea retires, or comes close to retiring, I see this as an impossible question to answer. He has ample opportunity to drop completely off the radar.

 

[psychic duck]

It's a bit hard for me to do the comparison, as the game has developed a lot more, and there are so many new technicalities to consider especially for Wingers.

Based on their physical attributes, they are both monsters! I just wonder if Lomu were to play now, would he have lost a few more kg's, have a bit more leaner body and maybe even a little bit faster?

If any of you have seen the training that Lomu did when he was playing, it's something not a lot of guy can do. Doing Squats with each leg on a different gym ball while squatting with a bar of weights above your head is something to admire. I don't think Savea has that in him, but I stand corrected.

I don't think many had too many gripes about a prime Lomu's physique or pace. It was more the later versions following comebacks that were a bit out of shape like at Cardiff.

 

[Jaguares]

If any of you have seen the training that Lomu did when he was playing, it's something not a lot of guy can do. Doing Squats with each leg on a different gym ball while squatting with a bar of weights above your head is something to admire. I don't think Savea has that in him, but I stand corrected.

Video? Link? Something about it?

 

[tituslechmakus]

Putting a 24 year old in the same category as a legend of the game is just a bit premature, regardless of how good the player is. What separates the best players is the longevity of how great they were. Savea is not even halfway through his rugby career. Until Savea retires, or comes close to retiring, I see this as an impossible question to answer. He has ample opportunity to drop completely off the radar.

Could you please tell me how old was Lomu when he did his show in 95 ? And 99 ?

 

[Gavin]

Could you please tell me how old was Lomu when he did his show in 95 ? And 99 ?

Lomu got his debut in 94 against France and was at that time 19 years and 45 days old. Come the world cup in 95 he would have been 20

 

[tituslechmakus]

Lomu got his debut in 94 against France and was at that time 19 years and 45 days old. Come the world cup in 95 he would have been 20

Exactly ! So yes, you could compare Savea at 24 and Lomu at 20. Jonah was just over the rest of the players in his time. That is the only way you can compare !

Sorry, Savea did not score 4 tries in WC semi in 2011 ... He wasn't even with the AB

 

[Gavin]

Exactly ! So yes, you could compare Savea at 24 and Lomu at 20. Jonah was just over the rest of the players in his time. That is the only way you can compare !

Sorry, Savea did not score 4 tries in WC semi in 2011 ... He wasn't even with the AB

Lomu did more than that at the '95 World Cup. His performances in the group stages were incredible. He could have scored a lot more if he played against Japan

 

[Maverick1987]

I think savea is better .....

The game has become a lot more physical and the opposition wings tend to be more solid these days . I'll throw it out there and say Lomu wouldn't have scored 27 tries in 28 games . He was great and a legend but savea is better and will surpass his try record in the next 10 matches ....

 

[dasNdanger]

Lomu, simply because he was the first - he had nothing really to compare himself to, to judge his own accomplishments by. He 'created' a new breed of winger that others have imitated and developed upon, but would any of that development have happened (in the same way and rate) had Lomu not started it all? Surely there will be better players - different players - but Lomu really made the rugby world stand up and take note of what a winger could really do (and why all wingers for years to come will be judged against his benchmark).



das

 

[Darwin]

I think savea is better .....

The game has become a lot more physical and the opposition wings tend to be more solid these days . I'll throw it out there and say Lomu wouldn't have scored 27 tries in 28 games . He was great and a legend but savea is better and will surpass his try record in the next 10 matches ....

Perhaps not. But at the same age (24) Lomu had already starred at 2 Rugby World Cups and scored 24 tries in 32 starts* for the AB's.

I do feel people are making a bit too much of the "modern day players are bigger" angle. Savea is the most destructive wing in world rugby at the moment and he wasn't as big, strong, or fast as Jonah. In his prime Jonah actually relied on his size far less than Savea too in many ways. Savea's favoured methods of breaking tackles is bunting off / fending off players. Jonah just went around players using a combination of speed, power, and incredible balance. I believe he would be just as devastating going on the outside in modern times as he was then, as there didn't seem to be any correlation between the size of the opposition tackler an the ability of that tackler to bring him down on the outside (indeed it seemed the opposition halfback was more likely to eventually stop him than anyone!).

For those who haven't seen Lomu in his prime here is a vid of the '95 RWC so it can be appreciated how devastating he was in full flight (Kronfeld's try versus Ireland is my personal favourite):








*He was used off the bench quite a bit in 1999 (prior to the RWC), which is one of the reasons his try scoring ratio isn't as impressive as it could have been.

 

[barkinghooker]

Would Savea be just as devastating if he grew up and played in Lomu's time ? And how much more of a monster Lomu would be in today's professional game ?

Great video in the post above. His run and assist against Ireland was top class.

I'd have Lomu in my team !

 

[nickdnz]

Here is a video of all of Lomu's international test tries -



My personal favorite are the ones against France in 1999, it was like he was running into crowds of players just to be more destructive.

I also think if you look at some of his early Super Rugby tries you get an even better impression of just how quick he could be.

 

[nzlizard]

Hard call, Savea has more of a skill set but I have no doubt that if Lomu played today's game and Jane spent time with him like he did Savea that Lomu would have that skill set.

Jonah was awesome, I watched every game he played for the AB's and his dominance on the field is second to none, leaves Savea in his wake.

A fit Jonah would in today's age would out run, out smash and out play Savea by a fraction imo.

 

[Kapa O Pango]

Turn back time and give Jonah two functioning kidneys instead of one, you'll see who is the better player.

 

[Gavin]

Here is a video of all of Lomu's international test tries -



My personal favorite are the ones against France in 1999, it was like he was running into crowds of players just to be more destructive.

I also think if you look at some of his early Super Rugby tries you get an even better impression of just how quick he could be.

Great video.

So in his 50th test he scored his 31st try. Considering he was unwell for most of his career and had to miss a lot of matches because of his illness he could have scored an awful lot more.

 

[SimonG]

Turn back time and give Jonah two functioning kidneys instead of one, you'll see who is the better player.

Was waiting for someone to finally state this.

He wasn't anywhere near 100% in '95 and far less so four years later...and still he dominated games like nobody since. He was a one man wrecking crew who transcended the sport. Good luck to anyone who can get anywhere close.

 

[SimonG]

Having just watched this fella today, ridiculous question.

Lomu played in an era of far better opposition for NZ, had multiple players swarm around him every single game, and he was still explosive, scoring tries by taking on half a dozen players singlehandedly.

This fella was completely anonymous today. Loads of time and space umpteen times and did nothing.

Obscene question.

 

[Darwin]

Having just watched this fella today, ridiculous question.

Lomu played in an era of far better opposition for NZ, had multiple players swarm around him every single game, and he was still explosive, scoring tries by taking on half a dozen players singlehandedly.

This fella was completely anonymous today. Loads of time and space umpteen times and did nothing.

Obscene question.

Savea barely touched the ball all match, and had no space what-so-ever whenever he got the ball. I'm certainly not saying he's better than Lomu, but judging him solely on a one-off match when he barely touched the ball isn't really fair....

 

[Chikwa]

The better player is simply the more effective player who uses his attributes for the benefit of the team consistently . Using my definition I pick Savea.