Sir John Kirwan states ‘pressure on’ Ruben Love after ‘disappointing’ missed kicks with Richie Mo’unga shadow looming
Ruben Love and Richie Mo'unga, inset, in action for the All Blacks.
Sir John Kirwan “wouldn’t be surprised” if Dave Rennie makes the big call to start Richie Mo’unga over Ruben Love in the final Greatest Rivalry Test.
The Hurricanes playmaker has taken the 10 shirt in every Test match under Dave Rennie and has generally received positive reviews, but he was poor off the tee at the weekend.
While aspects of Love’s attacking game was better than his previous games, the fly-half was yellow carded and was awry with three kicks.
Costly misses
Considering the All Blacks only succumbed 29-24 to the Springboks at FNB Stadium, those misses were potentially very costly. Kirwan believes “Ruben has been really steady” for Rennie’s side but that “we left a lot of points out there” in Saturday’s reversal.
“He will be disappointed in that – two conversions and a penalty – so that’s seven points you can’t leave out there. Ruben will be disappointed he didn’t nail that,” the All Blacks legend said.
“There’s some pressure on there. I do think that in the past we have had first fives that in critical times will step up. With this current South African side, the forward pack is the dominant part of the game and they step up.
“If you’re not really clean, and I think Dave Rennie said after the game, you give a penalty away on the 10-metre mark, they’re going to kick to the corner and their maul is incredibly devastating.”
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Should Rennie decide to make a change, he has three other options in the squad with Damian McKenzie, Beauden Barrett and Mo’unga all travelling to Baltimore.
McKenzie has featured throughout the 2026 Test season at full-back and is unlikely to be switched at this stage, but Kirwan believes the latter two are realistic options this weekend.
“Ruben will be disappointed he didn’t kick those goals. There will be pressure on him because he’s got Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett that have a whole lot of experience, so he will be under pressure to get selected this week,” he said. “If you’re a first five, you have to step up in those situations.”
Mo’unga or Love?
Mo’unga became eligible at the start of August and joined up with the group after an injury to Billy Proctor, but he has only played in one match so far on tour – against the Lions in Johannesburg.
Love will undoubtedly know Rennie’s system better and has obviously much more experience of it having started all six Tests so far this year, but the head coach will be tempted to bring in a playmaker that was the All Blacks first choice fly-half at the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups.
“Ruben’s been really steady. He’s a young man, to play in those Test matches and play well has been a real positive,” Kirwan added. “For us, what do you do moving forward? R
“Richie’s come back, he’s been in the squad, do you throw him out there or do you continue to give Ruben confidence? That’s a really interesting selection for this week; what will they do? I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Richie out there at 10.”
