Richie Mo'unga receives long-awaited All Blacks call-up

Richie Mo’unga is en route to South Africa to join the All Blacks squad ahead of their game against the Bulls in Pretoria this weekend.

The 32-year-old is three years removed from his last All Blacks cap, which came in New Zealand’s 2023 Rugby World Cup final defeat to the Springboks, having surrendered his All Blacks eligibility when signing with Toshiba Brave Lupus in Japan Rugby League One.

Having now completed that contract and signed with Canterbury, the Crusaders and New Zealand Rugby on an 18-month deal, Mo’unga’s eligibility for national selection was reinstated with his first minutes in the NPC two weeks ago, and will remain until his contract expires after next year’s Rugby World Cup.

Given he was ineligible at the time the 44-man All Blacks squad for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour was announced, Mo’unga’s chances of returning to the squad during the tour hinged on a selected squad member suffering a tour-ending injury.

That unfortunate circumstance has eventuated for centre Billy Proctor, who left the tour’s opening game against the Stormers with a fractured shoulder and has since returned to Wellington.

The All Blacks coaching staff delayed their decision on Proctor’s replacement until after Wednesday morning’s Sharks contest to see if the rest of the squad would come through unscathed. Tana Umaga informed the media on an online press conference on Tuesday evening that the coaches would make a decision overnight NZT, and that decision has now been made, with Mo’unga Johannesburg-bound.

“We really feel for Billy. He has had a great season so this is frustrating for him. It is the harsh reality of our game. We wish him all the best with his recovery and hope to see him fit and well in time for the end-of-year tour selection,” Head Coach Dave Rennie said.

“Richie is the obvious choice as a replacement. His job now is to get in and learn our systems, get his head around the detail and earn the right to play.”

Fellow playmaker Damian McKenzie went down with an ankle injury within the opening five minutes of the game in Durban, but had the ankle strapped and continued for another 30 minutes, even scoring a try before leaving the field as a precaution. All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie said after the match he expected the injury to be minor and not to affect McKenzie’s availability for the upcoming Test matches.

Umaga also offered an update on the status of Cam Roigard, Tyrel Momax, Will Jordan and Codie Taylor, who are all yet to feature on the tour, emphasising the medical staff were taking “very much” a precautionary approach with the injuries ahead of the Springboks series.

“Tyrel had a cut from the Irish game that got infected while we’ve been here. Will tweaked his back in one of our drills,” Umaga revealed.

“Best case scenario, those boys will be playing in the next game against the Bulls. But as we’ve seen, these little things, we’ve just got to make sure they don’t become worse so they miss out on the tour.

“The medical staff will make those decisions.”