All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has squashed speculation over flyhalf Richie Mo’unga’s involvement in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
New Zealand travel to South Africa for the much-anticipated tour in August-September, but Rennie on Thursday confirmed Mo’unga will not be named in the initial squad under NZ Rugby’s current eligibility rules.
The playmaker must first feature in the NPC, with only an injury to one of the touring flyhalves creating a route back into the Test setup.
“He won’t be coming on that tour so we will squash that. Under the current rule, he needs to play NPC and we’ll have already named our squad prior to that,” Rennie said.
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“What we do have is if a 10 got injured then Richie’s an option for us to bring in.”
Rennie admitted he had tried to convince NZ Rugby to relax its policy, but without success.
Asked whether he could follow the Springboks’ example of calling up Handré Pollard during the 2023 World Cup after Malcolm Marx’s injury, Rennie suggested the All Blacks did not have the same flexibility.
“Damian McKenzie plays 10 and he’s playing 15 so I’m sure I can muster an argument around that somewhere. We’ll have a pretty good crew of 10s that we take away.”
Mo’unga recently returned from Japan after recovering from a minor calf niggle, but Rennie believes the experienced playmaker has already done enough to earn another opportunity.
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“I got to see him first hand in Japan the last three years and he’s been phenomenal. He just needs to slot in and play well, make sure his body is good,” Rennie said.
“We’re not putting too many things in front of him around what he has to nail, but just be back and play, and get himself in great nick that if he gets an opportunity to come to South Africa, he’s ready to go.”
Should Mo’unga remain unavailable for the tour, he will continue to compete with Ruben Love, Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett for a place in the All Blacks’ match 23 later in the season.
Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour fixtures
Friday, 7 August: vs Stormers, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Tuesday, 11 August: vs Sharks, Kings Park, Durban
Saturday, 15 August: vs Vodacom Bulls, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Saturday, 22 August: vs Springboks, Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Tuesday, 25 August: vs Lions, Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Saturday, 29 August: vs Springboks, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Saturday, 5 September: vs Springboks, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg
Saturday 12 September: vs Springboks, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
Photo: Toru Hanai/Getty Images
The post Rennie accepts Richie won’t face Boks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has squashed speculation over flyhalf Richie Mo’unga’s involvement in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
The post Rennie accepts Richie won’t face Boks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
