{"id":306515,"date":"2025-11-24T23:10:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T23:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/306515\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T23:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T23:10:07","slug":"richie-mounga-on-returning-to-nz-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/306515\/","title":{"rendered":"Richie Mo’unga on returning to NZ in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Earlier on this year, when the Crusaders<\/a> and All Blacks<\/a> announced the return of 56-Test All Black first-five Richie Mo\u2019unga<\/a>, it was clear that Scott Robertson<\/a> saw him as a key piece to the puzzle for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

The experienced playmaker signed an 18-month contract with New Zealand<\/a> Rugby from the middle of 2026, until the conclusion of the 2027 season.<\/p>\n

Mo\u2019unga will finish up with the Toshiba Brave Lupus in Japan, before returning to New Zealand to play for Canterbury<\/a> in the 2026 NPC competition, and then the Crusaders for 2027.<\/p>\n

According to the contract, Mo\u2019unga will only be eligible for All Black selection in October 2026, but the first-five isn\u2019t ruling out the historic Greatest Rivalry tour just yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get the rules that have been put in place and I guess I have to come to grips with that is what it is. But yeah, the South African tour would be something special to be part of,\u201d Mo\u2019unga told Patrick McKendry in a 1News interview just after the All Blacks v Ireland<\/a> Test in Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, we\u2019ll see what happens. I\u2019m still very optimistic that something might happen and I might be available for that tour. So, I\u2019m still hopeful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going home to give myself the best chance to play for the All Blacks again but I understand it\u2019s not a given.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat South African tour is actually something I\u2019d love to be part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Mo\u2019unga\u2019s experience, he knows the won\u2019t be able to just walk back into the All Blacks environment, and he says that he\u2019s willing to play a whole season for Canterbury to earn his spot back in the All Blacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to get a good season under my belt here. Going back, it\u2019s about earning the respect of current All Blacks and current All Black management and letting them know I\u2019m still capable of playing some good rugby,\u201d Mo\u2019unga told 1News.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard seeing articles when I re-signed with New Zealand Rugby about being possibly being the No.10 for the All Blacks or who\u2019s in the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no expectation of walking straight back into that team. I\u2019m willing to play a whole season for Canterbury to earn the right. That\u2019s my mentality. I\u2019m not just walking in\u2026 I really want to earn the respect and trust \u2013 because the team has changed so much.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my drive. But yeah I\u2019m excited about seeing Razor and the management. I spent a lot of time with them, so I can\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only did the former Crusaders first-five win a number of titles under Robertson and most of the current All Blacks coaching staff, he has continued his success in Japan<\/a> wth the Brave Lupus.<\/p>\n

The Brave Lupus have won back-to-back titles with the 31-year-old running the side at first-five, something which Mo\u2019unga believes has helped develop his leadership skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess the areas I\u2019ve grown are areas [that] aren\u2019t really to do with my [playing] abilities. I\u2019ve become more of a leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had to step up in a lot of different areas off the rugby field and that\u2019s to try to lead this team in terms of the way the schedule is run or what our game plan looks like for the first six weeks; how I can make our halfbacks better or what skills our team need to be better at to try to be competitive this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say those areas are the most important when you come to League One because they can make the biggest differences and how your team is feeling mindset-wise when you\u2019re heading into a game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m working with our forwards a lot more than I usually would back in New Zealand because sometimes lineouts and scrums struggle here so you come up with plans to help that and find ways around it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has taught me a lot about rugby and that there is not just one way to play it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier on this year, when the Crusaders and All Blacks announced the return of 56-Test All Black first-five…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-306515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}