COMMENT
Just when we thought Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry could not get any more tantalising, the spice levels have ratcheted up with the arrival of swashbuckling flyhalf Richie Mo’unga.
For the last few months that Dave Rennie has been in charge of the All Blacks, Mo’unga was in Japan, playing under him at Toshiba Brave Lupus. Mo’unga had moved on from New Zealand after the 2023 World Cup final defeat to the Springboks — a match he almost won for the Kiwis — while, in South Africa, there has been the rise of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who could well have modelled his game on the cavalier Mo’unga.
You could say that since the last World Cup, "Sacha FM" has been the Mo’unga the All Blacks wish they had.
The 32-year-old has been ineligible for the All Blacks because of the antiquated ruling that a player has to be resident in New Zealand to qualify for selection.
Mo’unga, with Rennie prodding him in the back, has remedied that by recently moving back to Christchurch, where last weekend he turned out for Canterbury in the National Provincial Championship.
And the door that had been left ajar was flung open last week when Billy Proctor suffered a tour-ending injury against the Stormers. The prognosis was barely out of the doctor’s mouth before Rennie was on the blower to Mo’unga.
Quite simply, Mo’unga is that good. The All Blacks could not afford to leave him at home.
Between his international debut in 2018 and his last Test in 2023, Mo’unga was instrumental in the All Blacks winning five Rugby Championships. He also pulled the strings in seven Super Rugby title-winning campaigns for the Crusaders.
Of course, Mo’unga will have to get used to the current systems in the All Blacks camp. But he and Rennie would have been talking regularly since the latter got the job. They would also have had plenty of discussions in Japan during the three months Rennie still had to serve on his Brave Lupus contract.
Mo’unga has missed the matches against the Stormers and Sharks, and has not been named in the team to play the Bulls tomorrow. That makes it unlikely that he will start the first Test.
The only provincial tour match left is after the colossal opening Test at Ellis Park next weekend — a Tuesday fixture against the Lions. Mo’unga could get a run in that game and then be ready to start the second Test in Cape Town. But a more likely — and bold — scenario is that he will be on the bench for the first Test.
He is simply too good not to be involved in such a hugely important opening encounter of a four-Test series. And his addition changes the complexion of the flyhalf battle.
The Springboks have the emerging brilliance of Feinberg-Mngomezulu, the attacking instincts of Manie Libbok, and the experience and big-match temperament of Handre Pollard.
Now the All Blacks can counter with Mo’unga, Ruben Love, and Beauden Barrett.
That depth at No 10 could prove vital given the attrition rate we can expect from four Tests between these two heavyweight rivals.
And so we could have Sacha FM v Richie Mo’unga; Manie Libbok v Ruben Love; Handre Pollard v Beauden Barrett.
Not a bad collection of flyhalves.