Will Richie Mo’unga tour South Africa?

Source: Radio New Zealand

Will Richie Mo’unga tour South Africa? It’s the question every All Black fan has been asking, and we now have an answer.

Richie Mo’unga will not be included in the first All Blacks squad of the year, and most likely will not travel to South Africa for the historic tour.

Dave Rennie was making no secret of his desire to have the rules reassessed, but had conceded Mo’unga’s selection for the tour.

“He’s not available to come to Africa and he’ll play NPC. My thinking would have been we wouldn’t have used him in July, but Richie would be in the group getting his head around how we’re going to play the game, then include him in the squad to Africa and probably play him against the Stormers first game and let him earn the right to fight for a test spot. But you know, obviously the criteria means he can’t do that.

Rennie threw a spanner in the works at his very first press conference, declaring his hope to get Brodie Retallick back in black.

But neither Retallick nor Mo’unga would feature in the republic.

“We’re still hoping to get him (Mo’unga) in so he can get his head around things and you know maybe if there are injuries there’s an option to bring him in but he’s got his head around it, he’s prepared to go play the NPC. We’ve accepted that situation and understand New Zealand Rugby’s mindset around it, So we’ll just get on with it now.”

Though Rennie had accepted NZ Rugby’s stand on Mo’unga, had Retallick made himself available, Rennie may have fought for an exemption.

“Brodie is unavailable to do a lot of long distance travel. He wasn’t excited about six weeks in Africa. I think even Razor had had that conversation with him 12 months ago, we’ve got 150 odd days in hotels this year, so that wouldn’t excite the big man.

“But I guess we’ll continue to have discussions around whether there’ll be any versatility or flexibility around a guy like Brodie who played 12 years of test rugby, 12 years of super rugby. He’s made a massive contribution to the rugby here and I reckon he’s earned the right if he was available, if the system allowed and if he was playing good enough to potentially be available next year.”

After putting the incumbents on notice by stating he would be picking on form and not loyalty, Rennie said his squad was not far from completion.

“There’s a number of guys who we’ll definitely pick, assuming they’re injury-free. But the next few weeks will decide the fate of some guys.

“This is where you want to see it guys who can function under pressure.”

Rennie said there would not be wholesale personnel changes to the 2025 squad.

“I’m not sure about big changes. There’s been a lot of players used over the last few years and so I think the game we want to play, the players are here within the country.”

As for the issue of losing those players in their prime to offshore contracts, Rennie understood the realities of modern rugby.

“It’s tough. I mean, it’s going to happen. There’s massive money out there in Japan and in Europe. And so guys are going to make decisions based on what’s best for them and their family. And you’ve got to respect that.

“Our job’s obviously to try and communicate well with them. Let them know that there’s a pathway here. But guys will still go. I think just the fact that in the old days, guys weren’t at the end of their career. And now there’s maybe there’s a little less patience and an opportunity for guys to go away early and maybe some think they can come back in time. So ideally we want everyone to stay here but it’s unrealistic to think that’ll happen.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand