'The Bus' Savea bumps off comparison to hero Lomu

All Blacks wing Julian Savea is a humble hero. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A humble Julian Savea was quick to downplay any comparison to Jonah Lomu following his man-of-the-match performance against France.

The second of his three tries, in particular, was Lomu-esque when he bumped off three tacklers on the way to the goal line.

But there's one asterisk beside both their names that Savea will be keen to erase next weekend - never scoring a try against the Springboks.

After his hat-trick against Les Bleus yesterday - his second at the Rugby World Cup - Savea has scored 38 tries to surpass his childhood hero Lomu by one.

The 25-year-old now sits only behind Doug Howlett (49) Christian Cullen (46) Joe Rokocoko (46) and Jeff Wilson (44) in the pantheon of top All Black try scorers. Savea has amassed his tally in just 39 tests, an incredible strike rate of 0.974.

After the match, the wing neatly sidestepped the comparison to the "legend" Lomu.

"The earliest memory I have of the World Cup was '95, watching him against England.

"Being compared to him is an honour but no one can come close to him. He's my legend, he was a great player. All I can do is strive to be my best and be the best I can in my role in this team."

A year ago, Steve Hansen said the Savea was "probably better" than Lomu. That compliment seemed a long time ago as he lost form and fitness towards the end of the Super 15 season, to the point he was dropped from the All Blacks in order to improve his conditioning.

Savea good-naturedly conceded he put on weight "after enjoying my food too much" and thanked the All Black training staff for giving him the "kick up the butt" he needed.

"A couple of kilograms makes a difference. To be able to drop that ... if you know about skinfolds, it's how much fat you carry and I was carrying a bit over."

But his performance in yesterday's 62-13 massacre, booking a semifinal showdown with the Springboks, was a sharp reminder of his importance to the All Blacks' chances of winning the tournament. But "The Bus" wasn't just parked out on the wing. He went looking for work, carrying the ball strongly into heavy tackles and dishing out some big hits.

"For me it's getting a lot of carries in, very strong carries ... all the boys played really well," said Savea.