The Wellington Lions were comfortable 26-14 winners over Waikato on the weekend in their ITM Cup meeting at the Westpac Stadium in New Zealand. The lethal wing pairing of Hosea Gear and Julian Savea made quite a difference as both showed their quality throughout.
Savea, a promising youngster who recently starred in the Junior World Cup, crossed for a try and linked up with Gear to set up another. This clip here though features Gear making a fantastic try saving hit just as Waikato looked like they were going to cross for a great team try.
Weve all seen what Gear can do with ball in hand, but in this instance he showed that he has the timing and instinct to make those crucial tackles when needed. His speed off the mark was impressive, and is backed up by recent speed training tests done recently.
Wellington did a testing session on artificial turf not too long ago for the entire squad. The test was over the standard distance to measure rugby players speed, 40 metres. Savea came in third best with 5.02s, with second going to young back Buxton Popoalii.
The quickest was, as you guessed, Hosea Gear, who clocked in with a time of 4.96s.
While Gear hasnt featured at all for the All Blacks this season, their loss is New Zealand Sevens gain as he joined up with the Sevens squad as they prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October.
Coach Gordon Tietjens is aiming to win their fourth gold medal in as many attempts, with Gear no doubt a big part in his plans. Gear himself feels that Sevens may just be his way back in to the hearts and minds of the All Black selectors.
“There are quite a few handy players around. Its going to be good competition but the same time be good for my game as well if I can do well with the Sevens then obviously results will come later on following that,” says Gear.
“Its going to be something quite special and something good to experience seeing top athletes from around the world and all different sorts of sports,” he added.
This try saving tackle put an end to a great piece of play from Waikato that in itself should be applauded. It didn’t work out for them thanks to Gear making the right decision in a situation where he needed pull off the hit to prevent the overlap being utilised. Great play all round.
Time:
01:56
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