Richie Mo'unga will leave New Zealand as the greatest ever Super Rugby player
Richie Mo’unga enters his last Super Rugby season for the Crusaders before heading to Japan having already cemented a legacy unrivalled.
The case for Mo’unga as the greatest player in Super Rugby history is compelling. His success under Scott Robertson could be said to be a byproduct of the system and environment he is in.
Surrounded by great players, coaching and system, the Crusaders have elevated Mo’unga’s talent.
But why the No 10 is in the conversation as the greatest ever above others from his Crusaders team such as Sam Whitelock, a great himself with 174 Crusaders caps, is simple.
The engine room must lay a platform, but the playmakers must make the plays as highlighted through out the history of the competition.
Test rugby may require experience from a No 10 but Super Rugby has always required flair and attacking genius.
Super Rugby teams without a dynamic, international calibre first five-eighth in their prime do not win championships.
A younger Whitelock went title-less through the back end of Carter’s career with two close final losses until Richie Mo’unga arrived.
Carlos Spencer with the Blues, Stephen Larkham with the Brumbies, Andrew Mehrtens and Dan Carter with the Crusaders through the late 90s and 2000s.
The list goes on with Quade Cooper with the Reds, Lima Sopoaga of the Highlanders, Aaron Cruden with the Chiefs and Beauden Barrett with the Hurricanes in the 2010s.
The only Super Rugby teams to win with a No 10 over 30 years old were those who had already captured a title in their 20s. Teams who do not have a star No 10 in their prime years, do not win. Teams with old 10s do not win.
As the key game driver for the Crusaders, Mo’unga’s influence on results outweighs that of his pack and the other great players in his teams.
He is the main man when it comes to manufacturing line breaks or making them himself, pulling the strings to create tries, driving the team around the park and tactically playing the field.
He has consistently delivered big plays in those Super Rugby finals and many more through the play-offs to reach them.
As Scott Robertson put it after last year’s Super Rugby Pacific win over the Blues, he is their point guard like Steph Curry.
If the greatest ever Super player is to be measured by silverware, no generational star has won as many titles as Mo’unga, apart from some his own teammates of course.
His debut season in 2016 is the only year he has not been crowned a champion, with three straight Super Rugby titles from 2017-19, two Super Rugby Aotearoa titles in 2020 and 2021 before claiming the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific title in 2022.
Once the competition went domestic, Mo’unga was the Most Valuable Player of Super Rugby Aotearoa by some distance over the 2020 and 2021 seasons, leading in stat categories like try assists and defenders beaten as an attacking force that could not be handled.
Six titles in seven years is unprecedented in Super Rugby despite the disruptions and changes to the competition over the back half of Mo’unga’s Super Rugby career.
To say the Crusaders wouldn’t have topped the South African sides had they been still included since 2020 is presumption founded only in fantasy.
Mo’unga lost just once to a South African team as a Crusader in the 2016 quarter-final against the Lions. The Crusaders record against South African teams was 14 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in those four seasons.
They buried the majority of those teams by huge score lines, with the exception of the three-time finalist Lions, usually drowning the rest with an avalanche of tries.
The 2022 United Rugby Championship-winning Stormers would have been worthy of a challenge but certainly no guarantee to beat the Crusaders.
Mo’unga’s 1,053 Super Rugby points falls some distance short of Dan Carter’s 1,708, however Mo’unga has only played seven seasons compared to Carter’s 13-year stint.
It cannot be denied that he has owned the Hurricanes, the Blues, the Chiefs and the Highlanders over his career.
When he took over as the Crusaders starting 10, Beauden Barrett’s Hurricanes were the top team in New Zealand. In 2017 the Crusaders assumed the mantle and never gave it back.
The only shame about Mo’unga’s glittering Crusaders career is most of it has been played in a makeshift stadium on a horse track. Perhaps when he returns to New Zealand the Crusaders will be playing in a fit-for-purpose Stadium.
Whether he returns as a player at 32 year old after his Japan stint is unknown, it could be on the table if he has desires to resume his international career as an All Black.
If this is the last year of the Mo’unga show in Crusaders colours it is time to enjoy his greatness as they chase title number seven under Robertson.
Comments on RugbyPass
Great story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
39 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
39 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
39 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to comments