Making room for Mo'unga
Prior to the All Blacks’ June tests against France, there was considerable discussion surrounding who should back up Beauden Barrett in the matchday squad.
Damian McKenzie, with 9 tests to his name (albeit all at fullback), was seen by many as the incumbent – a player with not dissimilar skills to Barrett, namely blinding pace and dangerous on the counterattack, but many punters suggested that the uncapped Richie Mo’unga was perhaps the steadier, more reliable option. The tests came and went, and it was clear who Steve Hansen and his assistant coaches viewed as second in line.
A punishing head knock meant that Barrett sat out the final 150 minutes of the tour and in his place came McKenzie, who was somewhat of a mixed bag. In the second test, moments of brilliance followed by moments of despair caused some commotion in the media, with many suggesting that McKenzie was not the man for the job. McKenzie retained his place for the final match and delivered a much more assured performance on the back of a considerably more dominant display from the All Blacks forwards.
In his first two tests at first five, McKenzie showed enough to the All Black coaches to suggest that he could take the reins from Barrett if necessary – but his occasional lapses of control will still give the wise men some food for thought.
In the Super Rugby quarter-final match between the Hurricanes and the Chiefs, McKenzie threw two intercept passes – both which should have resulted in tries to the home team. Many will argue that players like McKenzie will inevitably make errors, but their flair and creativity still trump the negatives. Of course, a game of rugby is only 80 minutes long – and sometimes you don’t need to take a risk and try the impossible at first five, you just need to guide the team to victory.
The biggest problem for many people is that McKenzie, even when playing at 10, still operates like a fullback – running sideways and scouting for opportunities to slip through the line. His opportunity to run circles around the opposition is stymied when he plays at first receiver and, even though his effectiveness is limited, he still tries to pull the same kind of plays that only regularly work in open space.
Of course, this is a problem that’s not just limited to Damian McKenzie. Beauden Barrett, the incumbent 10, also plays the game more like a traditional fullback than a first five – and his effectiveness is also somewhat hampered when he’s as close to the action as he typically is. Barret is certainly a more experienced operator at 10 than McKenzie is, having played the position at a
professional level for a number of years – but Barrett’s best performances for the All Blacks were, arguably, during the period where he was predominantly injected as a fullback off the bench.
Richie Mo’unga has been controlling the game from first five with aplomb since he burst onto the scene for New Zealand Under 20 team in 2014 – and he’s hardly stepped a foot wrong since his arrival. It’s often been said that you can’t win the Super Rugby competition without a world-class operator at 10 – and Mo’unga is on the cusp of guiding the Crusaders to a second successful season.
Beauden Barrett, on his own, possesses exceptional game-breaking ability. Richie Mo’unga may not have quite as many sheer moments of brilliance – but the All Blacks are not a one-man band. Rugby is a team sport, and that means building a cohesive unit of players that can work off each other’s strengths. With the crop of players available at present, it would be fair to suggest that maybe what the All Blacks need in their playmaker position is not a game breaker, but someone who can steady the ship and ensure that everyone else is able to do their job.
All this is not to suggest that Richie Mo’unga is the superior player to Beauden Barrett. In a team less blessed with the talent that the All Blacks have at their disposal, Barrett might well be the better option because he can win games almost on his own accord. The All Blacks, of course, aren’t in this position – they have world class players in almost every position across the field – they don’t need someone who can win the game on their own.
From a practical point of view, there’s no reason why Barrett has to be left out of the side altogether either. A move to fullback would suit Barrett’s natural skills and would also allow Ben Smith to slide onto the right wing – the position where he started his All Blacks career and, quite frankly, probably excelled the most at on the international stage. Barrett can continue to marvel the rugby world in the open field and can still pop up at first receiver when the backline needs igniting.
Playing players out of their typical position is almost a national sin in New Zealand after the unsuccessful 2003 and 2007 World Cup campaigns – but surely moving players into the role where they most naturally fit is a far more reasonable choice to make. The 2019 Rugby World Cup is less than a year and a half away – long enough for Steve Hansen and co to test Richie Mo’unga at first five but not long enough for them to waste time on the matter.
Some may think that the quickly decreasing time between now and the World Cup means that it’s now too risky to change up the team’s established tactics – but maybe the riskier play is actually to not attempt to make the switch at all. With the Rugby Championship set to kick off on August 18, we’ll shortly know where Mo’unga figures in the All Blacks selectors’ plans.
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Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments