All Blacks latest: Richie Mo’unga ‘won’t be selected’ despite Damian McKenzie doubt
All Blacks latest: Richie Mo'unga 'won't be selected' despite Damian McKenzie doubt
Dave Rennie has confirmed that Richie Mo’unga will not be in contention for the All Blacks’ opening Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series clash against the Springboks.
Mo’unga linked up with the squad on Friday evening in Gauteng, replacing the injured Billy Proctor. New Zealand were dealt a further blow with Caleb Clarke sustaining an injury in the victory over Sharks in Durban, but no further cover will be added to the squad yet.
Richie Mo’unga update
With the All Blacks completing their last tour game before the first Test at Ellis Park against the Springboks, romping to a 50-19 victory over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, attention now turns to who Rennie will select in the matchday 23.
And the question around Mo’unga’s availability was always going to be raised by the head coach was quick to quash any suggestion that the returning fly-half was in the mix.
“He arrived late last night. He is very, very excited and jumping out of his skin,” Rennie said after the clash with the Bulls.
“He’s already done a fair bit of study, and we’ll spend the next week with him getting his head around our game. We won’t pick him in the first test. He will get a chance to get some game time against the Lions.”
Ruben Love looks set to be in the number 10 jumper for the showdown with the Springboks, with Rennie adding that the Test team will ‘look a lot different to the team tonight’. One man that is likely to feature in the run-on team in seven days’ time is hooker Codie Taylor who scored two tries in the first half in Pretoria.
Injuries in the backline
The stand-in tour did not return to proceedings after the half-time break, a pre-planned ploy according to Rennie, who also provided an update on Damian McKenzie, Cam Rogiard and Will Jordan, with the former in doubt for the first Test.
“Codie coming off at half-time was planned,” he said when asked about the changes made during the game.
“Xavier [Numia] just had a bit of a stiff Achilles – so we decided not to risk that and he came off at half-time and then likewise with Cortez Ratima, he’s got a bit of a bang and a knee, and he felt it was probably okay, but again, we’ve got a Test match in seven days. So both the other nines having 40 minutes each tonight was good.”
On the three players who didn’t feature against the Bulls, Rennie added: “Will and Cam got through a bit of training yesterday and we’re pretty confident they’re going to be right by next week. We want both of them to have a full week of training, so they are ticking enough boxes.
“We’re probably less confident about Damian, but we still think he has a good chance to play on the weekend. So, we’ll get a little bit of him tomorrow, and hopefully he can train well on Tuesday. So, the expectation is that all three of those bodies will be available.”
Codie Taylor’s return
Taylor was part of a much-improved forward performance, particularly in the set-pieces, with the All Blacks bolstering a 100% lineout success rate whilst he was on the park, with New Zealand also dominating the scrum.
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However, the veteran hooker is expecting a far sterner challenge from the Springboks in both departments.
“I’m sure they’re going to be asking a lot more questions come next week,” Taylor admitted.
“From where we started with the Stormers and built our way through these club games, I feel like we made some great strides as a forward pack.
“We are by no means the finished product… there’s going to be so much more we can work on, and it’s going to be even tougher come next week, but we can be really happy and confident with the steps we’re making.”
