Opinion: New All Black Mo'unga is a kick in the balls to Australia and the rest
Richie Mo’unga today became the latest in a long line of Canterbury fly-halves to gain an All Blacks call-up, following in the footsteps of Mehrtens, Mauger and Carter. Mo’unga’s selection serves as yet another reminder of the incredible depth in New Zealand rugby and as a kick in the balls to international challengers and modern-era battlers like Australia.
It was only two short years ago that kiwi rugby fans were preparing to say au revoir to the best number 10 in the world, wondering whether super-sub Beauden Barrett could stamp a permanent place in the starting jersey let alone ever living up to those giddy standards. At the same time, Aaron Cruden was on the way out and Lima Sopoaga was battling form and injury. Many All Blacks fans and pundits approached the 2016 season with trepidation, while international rivals salivated at the prospect of a Carter-less All Blacks side.
Fast-forward to 2017 and it is a vastly different scenario. Beauden Barrett is the world’s standout fly-half and his younger brother Jordie, a better goal-kicker, was unbelievably hot on his heels before being struck down by injury earlier this year. Sopoaga also found some form in Super Rugby and earned a recall, while Damian Mckenzie, a revelation in Cape Town, is well-known to prefer the number 10 jersey to fullback. Add Mo’unga to the mix and it looks like the All Blacks are just having a laugh at World Rugby’s expense.
Eligibility aside, any one of these recent All Blacks could walk into the starting line-up of virtually any international side, bar England and possibly Ireland. Never has one rugby-playing nation possessed such wealth at such a pivotal position.
What Wallabies coach Michael Cheika wouldn’t do to have a player of Richie Mo’unga’s quality on his bench as his side seek to salvage a bit of trans-Tasman pride this weekend. Instead, he is reliant on the solid-yet-unexceptional talents of Bernard Foley and the ever-lingering-but-gradually-fading potential of Quade Cooper to try and salvage Australian rugby dignity.
And while Owen Farrell and Jonny Sexton have been the only players of note to undo the All Blacks in the past 18 months, they will increasingly need to be shielded to avoid injuries that would expose the lack of depth that both England and Ireland have at fly-half.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TIkV76UKJQ
It is no secret that All Blacks coach Steve Hansen places a huge emphasis on succession planning, with a Japan 2019 three-peat still the top priority for an expectant New Zealand rugby community. Hansen and the NZRU have moved early to lock in key backbone players (See: Key All Black re-signs till 2021) and blood the future crop of Carters and McCaws (See: Lienert-Brown, Harris re-sign with All Blacks).
With injury always a risk for such a key position, the selection of Mo’unga is a master-stroke from a coach looking to secure the widest possible talent pool for his 2019 squad and, in particular, avoid the risk of these sorts of players giving up early on New Zealand to cash in overseas.
NEWS | Richie Mo'unga called into #AllBlacks squad for third #BledisloeCup Test.
READ: https://t.co/0a8nvVfeXE pic.twitter.com/ZNxASQhChh
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) October 16, 2017
Recent footage from the New Zealand Schoolboys team provides a further kick to the Australian Rugby Union and other nations waiting patiently for an end to All Black dominance, with Aaron Cruden’s younger brother displaying some characteristic skills against a player many are touting as “the Barrett clone”.
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The full All Blacks squad for this Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup match is:
Forwards: Wyatt Crockett, Kane Hames, Nepo Laulala, Jeff Toomaga-Allen, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Dane Coles, Nathan Harris, Codie Taylor, Scott Barrett, Patrick Tuipulotu, Samuel Whitelock, Sam Cane, Vaea Fifita, Jerome Kaino, Kieran Read, Ardie Savea, Liam Squire and Matt Todd.
Backs: Tawera Kerr-Barlow, TJ Perenara, Aaron Smith, Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo’unga, Lima Sopoaga, Ryan Crotty, Ngani Laumape, Anton Lienert-Brown, Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane, Waisake Naholo, David Havili and Damian McKenzie.
Comments on RugbyPass
Well done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
6 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
6 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
6 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
6 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
6 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to comments