Heyneke Meyer is under no illusions how hard it will be to stop Julian Savea when South Africa clash with New Zealand in the first semi-final at Twickenham on Saturday.
The South Africa coach believes that there are few better wings in world rugby down the years than the rampaging Wellington Hurricanes flyer.
The All Blacks No 11 leads the standings at the World Cup with eight tries, and with a probable two matches to go he could eclipse the tournament record he shares with the Springboks’ Bryan Habana and the legendary Jonah Lomu.
"He is an unbelievable player," Meyer told The National. "He is a game breaker, I really rate him and I think he is one of the best wings ever.
“For such a big guy, he is a hell of a quick and it is difficult to stop him.”
Savea was named World Rugby’s Junior Player of the Year in 2010 after he scored eight tries for New Zealand’s World Championship-wining Under 20s side and has not stopped.
He has been favourably compared to Lomu since he first pulled on an All Blacks jersey against Ireland in 2012.
At 109kg and 1.92m tall he is certainly less physically imposing than the former All Black, but leapfrogged his try-scoring record for New Zealand when he powered to his second hat-trick of tries this tournament in the thumping quarter-final victory against France last Saturday.
Savea has now scored 38 tries in his 39 internationals and is fifth in the all-time standings for his team, but, like Lomu, he has never crossed the line against the Springboks.
Meyer clearly hopes his squad can hold him at arm’s length for a sixth time.
“What makes him such a good player is that he is not just a runner, he has small touches, he is very good in the air, and he is very good turning around,” Meyer said. “We are going to try to keep that record.”
Meyer named an unchanged team from the quarter-final win over Wales yesterday as his side seek to secure just their third victory over the world’s best team in what will be 13 matches stretching back to 2010.
JP Pietersen has been charged with lining up against Savea on what will be his first full match against the 1,111th All Blacks player.
Pietersen played against Savea when coming on as a substitute in the 27-25 victory over New Zealand at Ellis Park last year, and although he said he enjoys watching his opposite number he refuses to draw comparisons with Lomu.
“Lomu did something to the game that no one else could have done; he changed the game,” Pietersen said.
“Savea is a great player and I have lots of respect for him. Whatever he does, he does very well. He is strong on contact, he is good at the high ball. I have to do my homework.”
Habana has been named on the other wing and is level with Lomu on the tries scored at all World Cups with 15.
At 32 this is likely to be Habana’s final tournament, unlike Savea, 25, and having scored a double against Argentina in the semi-finals in 2007 he know what it takes to succeed at this stage of the competition.
And Meyer believes that although Habana has played non-stop due to his commitments to Toulon over the past few seasons, his strike weapon is at the top of his game.
“He hasn’t really had an off season,” Meyer said. “I tried to keep him fresh but he is so competitive and works so hard.
“We did some new drills, high ball coaching and he has worked really hard on his fitness. He’s now back to his best. His speed is there and he is scoring a lot of tries.”
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