Springboks winger: Savea is no Lomu

Julian Savea celebrates after scoring against France. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Powerful All Blacks winger Julian Savea conjured memories of Jonah Lomu with his bruising hat-trick against France, but his semifinal opponent doesn't believe comparisons can be drawn between the two.

Springboks winger JP Pietersen will be directly facing up against Savea on Sunday morning, and although anticipating a tough challenge, believes that he can't be compared to the force that was Lomu.

"Julian is playing very good rugby, with eight tries in four games. I enjoy watching him, and he is a difficult customer and I know it's going to be a tough challenge to mark him," Pietersen said.

"But I don't think you can compare him to Lomu because Lomu did something that no one has ever done. He was a destructive force that got to 15 World Cup tries in just two campaigns (1995 and 1999). But Julian is a great player in his own right and whatever he does, he does well," said the 64-cap Springbok.

Savea's hat-trick against France made him the first player to score multiple hat-tricks at a single World Cup, having previously dotted down three times against Georgia. The treble in the French romp also took him to eight tries at the 2015 tournament, equalling the record for a single World Cup held by Bryan Habana (2007) and Lomu (1999).

Savea also surpassed Lomu in the all-time All Blacks try scoring ladder, with his 38 tries in 39 games looking impressive against Lomu's 37 tries in 63 contests.

Pietersen says he will have to be on top of his game to keep Savea under wraps.

"He is strong in contact, good under the high ball and he can also kick. So I will have to be at my absolute best to contain him," Pietersen said.

"But you live for challenges and on Saturday we'll both bring our best games and it should be a good battle - he will certainly bring the best out of me."

Savea has never scored against the Springboks - something Lomu also failed to do in his storied career.

It'll be Pietersen's quest to make sure that particular comparison continues after Sunday morning.