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
I 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).
5 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.?
27 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.
3 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
3 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 commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
27 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
20 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to commentsOutstanding article, Graham. Agree with all of it. And enjoy the style of writing too (particularly Grand Slap!).
3 Go to commentsI wouldn't pay a cent for that loafer. He just stands around, waiting for play to come his way. He won't make the Wallabies.
3 Go to commentsGood bit of te reo maori Nic. Or is that Niko or Nikora? On the theme of trees the Oaks v Totara. Game plan would be key. I have one but it would cost you.
27 Go to comments> Shaun Edwards’ You should not have to score 30 points to win a game, as exciting as it is. This statement was surprising to me. It is nonsensical .I guess it is a defence coach speaking. But head coach, defence and attacking coaches all work together. They are inseparable. You score more than the opposition to win. It only needs to be one score. You score whatever the game demands, whatever the opposition demand. You defend whatever it takes. The attack coach needs to be able to clock up 30pts if need be.
27 Go to comments