Viral post claiming Julian Savea is 'New Zealand's most popular pornstar' is fake. Photo / Getty Images
Viral post claiming Julian Savea is 'New Zealand's most popular pornstar' is fake. Photo / Getty Images
Julian Savea is not New Zealand's most popular pornstar - despite what a widely-shared Facebook post claims.
The 28-year-old former All Blacks superstar has been the subject of a social media hoax since Sunday, with the post claiming dozens of videos of the 54-test winger playing rugby had been uploaded to Pornhub.
An image of four of the "videos" posted to the Facebook group New Zealanders has been shared more than 300 times, garnered more than 250 comments and has been liked more than 1000 times - including by Savea's wife, Fatima.
The Facebook post. Photo / Facebook
The post claims a total of 38 videos of Savea playing rugby had been uploaded to the site, making him the most popular New Zealander searched for.
The "videos" all supposedly have ambiguous titles like Julian Savea destroying Australia (compilation), with an apparent video of him in action against the Wallabies, Savea - Non-stop thrashing, and Absolute pounding caught on tape - Julian Savea.
No videos of Savea exist on the site.
More than 100 million people around the world visit Pornhub every day, with Kiwis the 27th largest Pornhub consumer in the world.
Savea, tied for second on the All Blacks' all-time leading try-scoring list, has not been far from the headlines since signing a two-year deal with Toulon in France in June 2018.
Julian Savea has not been far from the headlines since his move to Toulon. Photo / Photosport
In September, Fatima Savea slammed the standard of French rugby in a series of tweets following Toulon's heavy defeat to Stade Francais.
In November, she posted the news on her Instagram account that Julian was "safe and sound" after falling asleep at the wheel and flipping his car.
She hit back at French fans who took aim at her husband earlier this week for leaving during the rugby season to attend the wedding of his younger brother Ardie.
Former All Blacks winger Julian Savea is the victim of an elaborate hoax. Photo / Getty
Ardie Savea wed his partner Saskia Hartmann-Hechenberger at the luxurious Sheraton Resort in Denarau, Fiji, three days before Christmas.
Julian Savea had travelled from France for the island nuptials with Fatima and the couple's daughter Jude.
In a post on social media, Fatima Savea said: "Let me set the record straight. Before Julian signed his contract he asked for time off in December to attend his ONLY brother's wedding. So this was agreed upon by both the club and Julian or else Julian would not have come to Toulon in September and instead in January."
