'He knows who he is in an All Black jersey now': Richie Mo'unga living up to his promise
Richie Mo'unga's Super Rugby career may lay claim to being the greatest in history but the seven-time champion has struggled to truly find his feet on the international stage since his debut in 2018.
Mo'unga started in the No 10 jersey for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in a dual-pivot role with Beaduen Barrett starting at fullback, an experiment that failed to fire under Sir Steve Hansen against the new wave of rush defence.
In the years following, despite his continued success in Super Rugby, Mo'unga's starting role at the next level wasn't guaranteed but instead subject to a debate that split All Blacks supporters for the most part of Ian Foster's head coaching tenure. Neither player managed to lock the jersey down.
Beauden Barrett started the first four Tests of 2022 before being shifted back to the No 15 jersey to make way for Mo'unga, where the two have remained since.
In 2023, fans have finally seen a chemistry between the two playmakers that appears to be bringing the best out of each player's skillset for the first time.
Barrett's vision allows him to inject his attacking game at opportune moments while offering the defensive line a master communicator. Meanwhile, Mo'unga has the keys to the attack and thrives on the unpredictability of the game plan.
It's a combination that many fans thought may never flourish, especially when both players were struggling to play behind a struggling pack.
But today, there is little doubt remaining over the selection, Richie Mo'unga has grown into the All Blacks No 10 jersey. Saturday's match-winning penalty kick was only further evidence the 29-year-old is finally ready for the greatest challenges in rugby.
"Being a leader of this environment was hard to begin with," Mo'unga said prior to The Rugby Championship. "Wearing the 10 jersey and being a pivot in the All Blacks demands that you are a leader and I think when I first came in I wasn’t ready for that or I didn’t have the confidence.
“But I think I’m, more than ever, ready to own that role and take charge if the team needs me to take charge, and just really understand what our team is trying to achieve so I can help the team do that.”
The kick completed a 20-point comeback that extended the All Blacks' unbeaten run to 11 games.
One of the enduring points in the Mo'unga vs Barrett debate was the need to pick a player and stick with him in order for the player's confidence and chemistry in the backline to have any chance of thriving.
Pundits suggest the end of the debate has offered Mo'unga the license to truly be himself and find his feet on the field. What impressed former All Black Jeff Wilson the most was Mo'unga's comments after the match.
"You want your best players to step up in the biggest moments and he said some wonderful things after the game," Wilson told The Breakdown. "His expectation was that he was entirely comfortable with this responsibility, he felt it was going to go over. That's his job and he knows his job.
"But we're seeing a confidence out of this young man now as a player in 2023, I don't think we've seen ever in an All Black jersey. For him to come on and to not just make this kick, but to drive the team back to a point where they could win, the decision-making before that, the way they started controlling territory and they kept building momentum.
"I just think he knows who he is in an All Black jersey now. We talked about this all season, about the keys to the car and he owns those now. He is completely comfortable with that.
"I'm just bitterly disappointed that we're not going to see it after this Rugby World Cup and it's heading offshore."
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Some interesting stats that just proved what my first impression of NZ’s drive to speed up Rugby Union would amount to - fine margins here and there to cut a few seconds off the game and nothing else. To do more there would have to be wholesale changes to the game like doing away with scrums, lineouts and bringing back the ELV’s to have free kicks instead of penalties. Very little chance of it happening but, in the end, Ruby Union would be a 15-man version of Rugby League. There are reasons why Rugby Union is globally more popular that Rugby League and what NZ are also not considering is the unintended consequences of what they want to achieve. This will end up turning Rugby Union into a low value product that will not be acceptable to the paying public. If people really wanted a sped-up version of rugby, then why is Rugby Union globally way more popular than Rugby League? Rugby lovers all over the world are also not stupid and have seen through what NZ are trying to achieve here, selfishly to bring back their glory days of dominance over every other nation and compete with Rugby League that is dominant in Australasia. NH countries just don’t have the cattle, or the fantastic weather needed to play like NZ SR franchises do so good luck to whoever has to try and convince the NH to accept going back to the days of NZ dominance and agreeing to wreck the game in the process. I have serious doubts on the validity of the TV stats presented by GP. All they did was expand the broadcasting base by putting it on free to air, not even any indication of arresting the continued drop in viewership. Match day attendance goes hand in hand with broadcast ratings so if there was an increase in the one you should expect to see it with the other. However, the drop in match day attendance is very evident to the casual highlights package viewer. The only club who looks to be getting solid attendance is the Drua. I am calling it now that NZ’s quest to speed up the game will fail and so will the vote on the 20-minute red card.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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