Former All Blacks boss Sir Steve Hansen is “100 per cent” certain that Dave Rennie will be thinking long-term if Richie Mo’unga joins the squad for the Springboks series.
Speculation is mounting that the coaches could attempt to bring in the star fly-half after Billy Proctor was ruled out of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry through injury.
Mo’unga is now eligible for international rugby having played in an NPC encounter at the start of August after missing out on the original squad due to it being named the week prior.
Rennie addresses Proctor replacement
Rennie has remained coy about whether he will bring in the playmaker, stating they’re “working through that process” over who to call up as Proctor’s replacement.
Then asked whether it would be the 32-year-old, he smiled before repeating the same answer.
However, even if Mo’unga is selected, Hansen believes that it will take time for him to get up to speed, suggesting that he may not be involved in the 23 to face the Boks.
“It doesn’t just happen straight away, you’ve got to have people around you understanding exactly what you want and how to drive it, and he will be one of the big drivers when he plays, so he has to have a really good understanding of it,” he said on the Rugby Unity podcast.
“If they do bring him, that will be the reason they’re bringing him, it won’t be because they don’t trust the 10s they’ve got because I’m sure they do, it’s why they’ve taken them, but it will be a long-term statement.
“They will say: ‘Righto, this gives us an opportunity to bring one of our more seasoned players in who doesn’t know me, doesn’t know us, doesn’t know how we want to play, so we get a free shot, we get four weeks to give him an introduction’.”
The show’s host, David Pembroke, was slightly surprised by Hansen’s statement and duly asked: “You see it then as more to do with the 2027 Rugby World Cup than the Greatest Rivalry?”
“100 per cent,” Hansen replied, but he did not commit to answering whether he thinks Mo’unga will get a call-up to the tour or not.
“I think it could go either way, I’m not sure what they’re thinking and only they will know but they will make the right decision for what they think is right for the team,” he added.
“I think they make decisions for what’s correct right now, and then short-term, long-term and mid-term, so all three areas will be questioned in their minds.
“Do we need a short-term fix here or can we take a breath and make a long-term or mid-term decision?
“Definitely, if Richie does get on the plane then they’re making a long-term decision, no doubt about that but, if he doesn’t, and the short-term decision is being made to bring in a midfielder, they obviously don’t feel they have enough cover.”
All Blacks’ centre options
Despite losing Proctor, the All Blacks still have four out-and-out midfield options in Jordie Barrett, Quinn Tupaea, Anton Lienert-Brown and Timoci Tavatavanawai, while Rieko Ioane also has plenty of experience at outside centre.
“If you’re looking at the group and say to yourself you’ve got Lienert-Brown, Tupaea, Barrett, Rieko Ioane and [Leroy] Carter can play centre as well I think, maybe you would make the decision to bring Mo’unga over,” Hansen added.
“It would be depending on how important you think he is to the future. They’ve brought him back from Japan and you would imagine they think he is important.”
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