All Blacks stars have leapt to the defence of Ardie Savea, who has been criticised following the sacking of head coach Scott Robertson.
Robertson was sacked last month after a mixed couple of years in charge, with a player review reportedly key to his downfall.
Savea was seen as the face of the alleged revolt after it was claimed that he was seeking a move away from New Zealand if changes weren’t made.
NZ Rugby chair David Kirk denied that the flanker had a significant role in Robertson’s sacking, but that the 32-year-old has still received backlash.
‘It won’t bother him’
“I’m a bit disappointed. He’s been used as a scapegoat when he’s probably just expressed his views in a review, and it’s come out. A lot of people expressed their views in the review; everyone in the team does,” All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu told reporters.
“I suppose it’s just easy to latch onto him because he’s probably the best player in the world at the moment. It’s a bit disappointing, but people are going to say what they’re going to say.
“I haven’t spoken to him, but on the Zooms we’ve had, he seems alright. It won’t bother him, he’s the type of guy to just carry on.”
Tuipulotu was speaking during the Super Rugby Pacific launch and the Robertson situation was a topic for all of the All Blacks that were present.
The lock was representing the Blues while Codie Taylor was there for the Crusaders and the hooker “100 per cent” agreed with his international colleague about Savea.
‘Pretty easy to point fingers’
“There was a player review, obviously, but the way the narrative has been put onto Ards is totally unfair. I think when someone of his calibre goes away to a different competition, it’s pretty easy to point fingers, but that’s not the case at all,” the hooker.
“We don’t even know what he said in his review. I don’t want to know. But I know for a fact that he wants the best for this team, and he really respected Razor.”
Back-rower Wallace Sititi was also asked about the “hate” Savea has received and the youngster stated that he will back him to the hilt.
“Ardie’s my guy, he’s my brother and I’m going to look after him no matter what. It’s a bit disappointing but it’s a part of rugby, the fans are passionate about their footy,” Sititi said.
“I think we all know who Ardie is as a person so that’s the main thing.”