Sir Steve Hansen’s verdict on Richie Mo’unga selection after ‘mental load’ placed on Ruben Love
Richie Mo'unga in action for the All Blacks and legendary coach Sir Steve Hansen.
All Blacks’ legendary head coach Sir Steve Hansen has backed Dave Rennie’s decision to bring Richie Mo’unga into the starting XV for Saturday’s clash.
It will be the playmaker’s first Test since the 2023 Rugby World Cup final having spent the subsequent three seasons in Japan.
Mo’unga replaces Ruben Love at fly-half in one of a number of changes from Rennie for the final encounter against the Springboks in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
Love started all six previous internationals under Rennie and Hansen reckoned that it would have taken its toll on the 25-year-old.
He is not even on the bench with the All Blacks boss opting to give the experienced Beauden Barrett a shot in the 23.
‘Not a bad substitute’
“He’s got Mo’unga there and he’s decided, ‘let’s have a look at him’ and give him an opportunity to play. It’s not a bad substitute for Love, Richie Mo’unga is probably one of the best five-eighths in the world, so you’re not losing too much there,” the 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning head coach said on the Rugby Unity podcast.
“He’s got to find out more about Beauden at Test level against the best opposition and giving Love a complete rest. He’s a young player, he’s had a big season already and played in all the Tests, so he will have a mental load.
“He just gets to take a breath, adjust and reflect on what he has done and hasn’t done, so I think it’s a pretty well selected side.”
Rennie has decided to make mass alterations to the XV with Damian McKenzie, Will Jordan, Jordie Barrett, Cam Roigard and Sam Darry the only players to be wearing the same numbers as last weekend.
“They’re rolling the dice with regards to developing people against the best teams in the world. [Ethan] De Groot’s coming back in, he was a starter, [Codie] Taylor’s a starter – both those guys have had reasons for not being there in the last couple of games,” Hansen said.
“[Fletcher] Newell starting and Tyrel Lomax coming off the bench, so they’ve just basically swapped places. At lock, they’re looking for a big tighthead with Patrick [Tuipulotu] coming in and they’re giving [Fabian] Holland a breather.
“[Sam] Darry played well enough to be there, [Josh] Lord’s come back from injury so whilst there are a lot of changes, some of them have been forced because of injury in previous matches with those guys returning and some of them have been forced by injuries in the last Test match.”
Putting faith in the whole squad
Given that the All Blacks can level the series, some have been shocked by the sheer number of alterations, but not Hansen, who believes that Rennie needs to see if the players can handle the rigours of Test rugby.
“I wasn’t surprised. If you’re going to make the changes, this is the Test match you were going to do it in. What he’s doing here is showing the rest of the group, ‘hey, we trust you, it’s a big job that needs to be done but we trust you to get the job done’, and then some of the changes have been forced through injury,” he added.
“Ardie [Savea] would have been playing for sure but he’s out. Your midfield’s changed because [Quinn] Tupaea’s got injured. When you go deep enough, you realise why they’ve made the changes.”
