Super Rugby Final
Savea not surprised by Naholo breakthrough
ESPN Staff
July 3, 2015
Super Rugby Grand Final preview

Julian Savea isn't surprised by Waisake Naholo's stunning Super Rugby season but is reserving judgement on his Highlanders counterpart's Test credentials.

Savea is renowned for his spectacular strike rate for the All Blacks but he hasn't been able to keep up with Naholo at Super Rugby level this year, with the fellow 24-year-old's 12 tries leading the competition.

"He's proven to be one of the best in the competition," Savea said of Naholo, whom the powerhouse Hurricanes winger will mark in one of the most mouth-watering head-to-head clashes of the Super Rugby final in Wellington.

The Highlanders' Waisake Naholo (L) and Hurricanes' Julian Savea pursue a bouncing ball, Napier, June 5, 2015
Waisake Naholo and Julian Savea will go head-to-head in Wellington © Getty Images
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"It's exciting; marking him is a new challenge. If you don't contain him, he's going to cause trouble for us."

Fiji-born Naholo has played several seasons in the ITM Cup and Super Rugby, but he has lifted his game notably this year - something Savea said was inevitable.

"It hasn't surprised me. With some players, it takes time and it was more when he was going to break out. He's the leading tryscorer and he deserves it; he works hard."

Naholo received the reward for his efforts when he was named in the All Blacks' 41-man squad to face Samoa and to play in the Rugby Championship, but then he had to wait for French club Clermont to release him from a contract signed in January. That release clears him as a potential Test player this year, including at the Rugby World Cup, but Savea said Naholo should not be expected to step straight up.

"Test level is different. I worked that out when I first started," he said.

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