What Richie Mo'unga's critics don't understand about his form with the All Blacks
It’s intriguing that, no matter how well Richie Mo’unga plays in Super Rugby, he has a legion of critics who do not rate his work for the All Blacks and are desperate to see Beauden Barrett restored to the test No 10 jersey.
Mo’unga was the best No 10 in the land before Sunday’s brilliant individual performance against the Blues. His 28 points, pinpoint goal-kicking, game-breaking try and try-saving tackle were effectively the difference in a contest between two sides who each scored four tries.
There was loose talk that he had made a slow start to Super Rugby Aotearoa. If you call rustiness on opening night against the Highlanders a slow start, then he’s guilty as charged. Who wants to peak in February, anyhow? Richie McCaw never did.
But he now has 49 points from four outings at over 12 points a match and has strung together two straight man of the match displays. This is a two-time winner of the NZ Super Rugby Player of the Year we’re talking about.
Like Ardie Savea, Mo’unga receives often only grudging praise for his play for the All Blacks. Hell, some reckon he has only played with authority in one big test, the 43-5 shellacking of the Wallabies in Sydney last October, of his 22 internationals. They have amnesia, because he was very good two weeks before that at Eden Park when Barrett ran with potency from the back. He has played well in most of his tests, in fact. Sure, he was not at his best in the Rugby World Cup semifinal reverse to England, but which No 10 was going to play front-foot rugby when the pack was being dissected?
There are those who cannot countenance the two-playmaker tactic employed since 2019 by Ian Foster. There was always a certain amount of logic behind the strategy. Perhaps it just needs more time. But Barrett is not in New Zealand, he’s in Japan chasing the yen. He may have to take his chance and wear the 15 or 22 black jersey upon his return.
Mo’unga, meanwhile, continues to exert a dominance on Super Rugby Aotearoa that we have not seen from a Kiwi No 10 since Carlos Spencer was cutting those shapes way back in 2003 for the Blues. The man himself says he loves the pressure and Sunday’s clash at Eden Park was a dress rehearsal for the final, the closest you’ll get to test footy.
He has the balance, the accuracy, the skill and the tactical nous to run the ship, to run a game. Scott Robertson must shake his head that Mo’unga does not get the widespread plaudits he merits. We are not going to say he will be as good as the recently retired Dan Carter but he soon may leapfrog Carter and Andrew Mehrtens as the greatest ever Crusaders No 10.
Mo’unga must feel like Savea, who plays with panache and skill for the Hurricanes and the All Blacks and is the most dynamic forward in the country. But some of Savea’s critics, of which there are many, would boo Santa Claus. They say he’s not big enough to be a consistent, physical force in the All Blacks. False. He’s about two kilos lighter than Sam Cane. They say he gets rag-dolled or over-run physically in the tighter stuff. False.
Beauden Barrett is one of the great attacking footballers, a multi-skilled match-winner with the ability to play at the back or in the driver’s seat. Yet Mo’unga can do virtually all that Barrett can do, with a touch less pace. But it seems that, even if he scores a thousand points for the Crusaders in the next few years, unless he wins a Rugby World Cup with the 10 on his back, he will continue to have his carping critics.
Comments on RugbyPass
To me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
30 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
30 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
30 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
30 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
30 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
30 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
30 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to comments