NZR not budging on Richie Mo'unga's All Blacks eligibilty for South Africa tour

Whats all the fuss about? Richie might come back and we find that he is not the player he once was. He might be just a very average player. Maybe he doesnt walk on water anymore like a lot of people think. Lets get real and start looking at the guys who are playing 10 in this country. Richie was never a huge match winner for the all blacks

Piece of cake. AB’s coach Dave Rennie need only create an injury conundrum among his chosen players and Richie would be in as an injury cover and thus become eligible for South Africa.

Typical head in the sand decision from the famously beurocratic NZRFU. They are both arrogant and naive to think that the all blacks can continue to thrive with only home based players. I was hoping that Lancaster would bring a more modern approach to selecting players. He’s asking Dave Rennie to win tests with up to half of his team not being the best man available for their particular position. We should ALWAYS be choosing the best 15 rugby players for the national team irrespective of where they are based. And we, the public, should demand it!

And it’s only going to get worse over the coming years as our best talent heads off overseas to improve their game while obtaining a decent income. Young talent coming through?. Our U20s haven’t won anything for how long!

The NZRFU needs to understand that rugby (like soccer) is now a truly world game. We should be encouraging our players to go overseas to improve their game while playing with the best players on the planet.

In a move that surprised absolutely no one who enjoys watching a bureaucratic car crash in slow motion, the NZR has confirmed that Richie Mo’unga is officially banned from the upcoming South Africa tour

Why? Because apparently, playing rugby in Japan is a lifestyle choice that must be punished by a mandatory stint in the NPC—the rugby equivalent of doing community service before you’re allowed back at the adult table

NZR CEO Steve Lancaster, while peering through his systems lens—which we assume is just a pair of binoculars taped over with pictures of the 1987 World Cup squad—insists the policy is fit for purpose

The purpose, it seems, is to ensure the All Blacks remain a level playing field for people who stayed home

Because nothing says high performance like telling your best fly-half, "Sorry Richie, we know you’ve won seven Super Rugby titles and basically own the No. 10 jersey, but Rivez Reihana had a really solid game for the Crusaders last week, so... rules are rules"

The best part of this bureaucratic comedy… the "In Case of Emergency, Break Glass" clause

Lancaster admitted that if someone gets injured, Mo’unga suddenly becomes visible and accessible enough to play

(…takes a deep breath & dries eyes)

So, the logic is simple:

Richie Mo’unga (Healthy): A dangerous offshore mercenary who threatens the very fabric of New Zealand society

Richie Mo’unga (After Damian McKenzie stubs a toe): A national hero and the only man who can save them from a 50-point drubbing in Johannesburg

It’s heartening to know that the sanctity of the loyalty policy is only as strong as Beauden Barrett’s hamstrings

Lancaster also claimed other nations are tightening their eligibility rules

He’s presumably referring to South Africa, who tightened their rules so much that they won two consecutive World Cups using a squad that lives everywhere from Tokyo to Toulon

Clearly, NZR has looked at the Springboks’ success and thought, no, that's too easy

We prefer the challenge of leaving our best players at home to watch the game on telly while we 'validate our system

Don't worry kiwi fans, while the Springboks are busy naming a squad of grizzled, battle-hardened veterans, the All Blacks will be safe in the knowledge that your ‘systems lens is crystal clear’

You might lose the series, but you’ll win the Gold Medal for Administrative Pedantry

Mo'unga doesn't have to play NPC, which doesn't start until after the after the July tests. As soon as he is back in the country he will be available for the AB's if injury has takes out a first choice player. There are only 33 in the squad for the July tests, so if a 10 or 15 injured, Rennie will be able to make the case and Mo'unga will be in, and permanently available, so on his way to the Republic. Barrett, McKenzie, Love and Jordan all get injured regularly, so it could happen very easily. Thing is, Rennie could not select Barrett, have almost any player in the backline get injured, and then pull in Mo'unga. Job done.

And as for not selecting Barrett, he was shocking against the Crusaders. He's about to turn 35, and he looked every one of those years. He simply doesn't have any acceleration or agility any more. The problem for the Blues is that Perofeta was truly appalling, and the major reason why the Crusaders won so easily.

On the other side of the coin, Rivez Reihana was the real man of that match. He literally does everything at the very top level. His game management and kick are excellent and he's ice cold. He is an excellent defender, and has the size and speed to play fullback as well. His pass and running skills are easily as good as Love's. He is also an A grade goalkicker. Players in his backlines simply play better.

Some players like Perofeta get chance after chance for no apparent reason. Reihana is the most mistreated player in NZ rugby, worse even than Love. Both have suffered from a series of incompetent coaches. Laidlaw/Jane have finally got it into their thick heads that Love is a 10. McMillan never worked out Reihana should be his first choice 10, and Penney/Mooar still haven't worked it out, despite the fact he gave him a championship in 2025. It was the only year Reihana was the first choice 10 at the end of the season, [Kemara was injured] and the only year championship either of those coaches have won. No coincidence.

Hopefully Rennie pays attention to ability not reputation and selects Reihana in his July squad. I suspect he will go overseas if he's not. Reihana is off contract with Crusaders, is behind Kemara as far as Penney/Mooar are concerned, and will get pushed down to 3rd pick by Mo'unga if he stays. If Holland was vaguely competent as a selector he would grab Reihana, give him the starting spot, use Simpson as the back up, pension off Barrett and Mark Perofeta "Only Use in an Emergency." Given that Holland was the origin of the gross mismanagement of Love, that's never gonna happen.

Reputation counts for nothing if Richie Mo’unga isn't 110%+ physically, mentally fit, healthy and injury free…

He's got plenty of time to prove himself worthy before Oct. 1 - Nov. 13, 2027….

Richie will be playing for Canterbury before the tour kicks off… just saying.

“And interestingly, if you look around the world, a number of the other leading rugby nations are now actually tightening their own eligibility policies so that there is less scope for players to be selected from offshore teams.”

Anyone know which teams he’s referring to here?

Good. He’s already pretty much implied he wants to go back overseas after 2027, he doesn’t truly care about the team. Time to develop players who actually want to commit to the future.

So we’ve obviously got some great players in the same position

Whodat?

Mo’unga has signed a contract committing himself to playing rugby in NZ in 2026. He should be able to play for the ABs in 2026. To the extent it’s an exception to the policy, it’s a very minor one as it only rewards players who recommit to playing in NZ. And in any event, does domestic rugby include our grass roots club rugby? Why can’t he turn out for a Christchurch club as soon as he gets off the plane? If it’s about playing locally, that as local as it gets and I am sure the locals would love it.

The NZR’s position is a bit hypocritical, since Mo’unga could still be called up to cover an injury… and there will probably be injuries in South Africa given the number of matches.

If I were Rennie, I’d tell Mo’unga: “Play one NPC match, then be ready to head to South Africa, because if I get an injury, you’ll be the first person I call.”

I understand the NZR’s position — they want, in a way, to reward the loyalty of the All Blacks who stay in New Zealand, and not allow players who leave for 2 or 3 years to come back and become eligible again overnight without even playing for their province first. That’s a pretty fair stance. But saying right afterwards, “if there’s an injury, you can still be called up,” somewhat undermines the argument.

Time for them to play NPC.