The staggering Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett statistics which suggest Scott Robertson has made the wrong call
All Blacks fly-halves Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett.
Out of New Zealand’s three main fly-halves, Richie Mo’unga has the worst record against the top nations after All Blacks legend Jeff Wilson revealed a surprising statistic.
The 31-year-old will return home next year ahead of the Rugby World Cup after New Zealand Rugby agreed an 18-month contract with the playmaker.
Mo’unga was their first choice 10 at both the 2019 and 2023 global tournaments, and he will compete for the jersey with Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie once he lands back in the country,
Head coach Scott Robertson has been desperate to get his man, but it may not have necessarily been a wise decision if these statistics are anything to go by.
The case for Barrett
Wilson showed a table on The Breakdown which displayed the win rate of Barrett, McKenzie and Mo’unga against the biggest teams in the world when playing at fly-half.
The former had the best record versus Argentina, Australia, France and South Africa but the latter did not top any charts with McKenzie 100 per cent over England and 67 per cent against Ireland.
In fact, Mo’unga was remarkably at under 50 per cent in games with England, France, Ireland and the Springboks, and was lowest out of all three players in four of the six match-ups.
“The guy (Barrett) that’s played 107 Tests at first-five for the All Blacks [has the best record],” Wilson said.
“Don’t worry about the minnows, don’t worry about those percentages, but in the big games when they’ve been in the first-five (fly-half) position.
“These are against the significant teams around the world, these will win and lose you big moments, whether it be Rugby Championships, World Cups and they’re they are.
“The most consistent and the most successful, and he’s played 107 Tests in the position whether it’s starting or off the bench, is Beauden Barrett. He’s the guy when the All Black jersey has had success.
“When you look at Richie against England, France, Ireland and South Africa, none of those are at over 50 per cent.”
Credit: The Breakdown
Wilson has therefore questioned whether Mo’unga is the right player to be in that key decision-making role for the All Blacks when he returns midway through 2026.
“We have to starting looking into those things. We know he’s a prodigious talent at the domestic game, he in an outstanding Crusaders team,” he added.
“In Japan, I’m sorry but the Japanese competition we’ve seen players go up there and they dominate. Ardie Savea went up there and it was like touch footy.
“The top three or four teams, yes, but the other eight or the other 10, the quality is not there. Is he the right guy at the very highest level?”
The case for Mo’unga
Wilson was joined on the panel by fellow All Blacks great Justin Marshall, who appeared surprised by those numbers, before praising Barrett for his ability to maintain his high standards over a long period of time.
However, Marshall put forward a big reason as to why Robertson may trust Mo’unga more, especially with the potentially tight nature of World Cup knockout matches.
The 31-year-old is regarded as the more reliable off the tee, despite his rival impressing in that area during the France series.
“That’s outstanding to see that and boy he’s (Barrett) played some Test matches for that success rate. That ratio is high, there wouldn’t have been many players in the world that could carry that,” Marshall said.
“We need to throw the goal-kicking into it because that is massive at Rugby World Cups. When you think about the rest of the backline and what it might look like, there are not really goal-kickers in there – possibly Jordie Barrett apart.”
READ MORE: Ex-All Black: Springboks show why Richie Mo’unga signing is a ‘no-brainer’
