Richie Mo'unga celebrates his try with Beauden Barrett. Photo / Getty
Richie Mo'unga celebrates his try with Beauden Barrett. Photo / Getty
Evading praise proved more difficult than eluding Wallabies defenders for All Blacks playmaker Richie Mo'unga.
Nights like Mo'unga savoured in Sydney don't come around often. For many players, they never arrive at all.
Whether it was putting in pinpoint cross-field kicks for Jordie Barrett and Dane Coles, jinking down theblindside and holding the ball in two hands to baffle defenders, latching onto Beauden Barrett's chip, controlling the match tactically or splitting the uprights from the sideline, Mo'unga could do no wrong in his 23-point masterclass that left the Wallabies shellshocked by halftime.
Richie Mo'unga celebrates his try with Beauden Barrett. Photo / Getty
Mo'unga has struggled at times in his 20 tests to assert the same authority he does on the Crusaders, but in the record 43-5 victory that locked away the Bledisloe Cup, everything clicked for the 26-year-old.
While much tougher tests and far better defensive teams will come in time, this could be the match in which Mo'unga starts to feel as though he can call the All Blacks backline his own, particularly as his combination with Beauden Barrett continues to grow.
In attempting to deflect praise, Mo'unga attributed his performance to clarity of game plan – the simplicity of playing in the Wallabies half due to the wet weather and those tactics suiting his natural game.
"You've got to be honest with yourself that you're chuffed, you're happy, you're proud of a performance like that and when you get to do things like that it's pretty special but you can't take away what the whole group has done," Mo'unga said. "Those individual things don't come off things you do by yourself it's always about the team."
Richie Mo'unga looks to claim possession against the Wallabies. Photo / Getty
Others, though, were much more effusive with their recognition of Mo'unga's telling touches.
"For a big part of it I was on the sideline watching and some of the stuff Richie did was pretty special," All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara said. "He's a humble guy and he knows it's part of the job.
"I expect him to go out there and play well and when he does that sort of stuff I know it's something he can do because I've seen it in Super Rugby, and I've seen it in training, but then we you do see it in the arena you can't help but be like 'that's a bad man out there'. Some of the stuff he did out there are things other people can't do."
All Blacks coach Ian Foster, the former Waikato first five-eighth, was most pleased with Mo'unga's game-management and option taking. The key point in this regard is when Mo'unga made a decision he was decisive and, on this occasion, came up trumps every time.
"What I liked the most is we haven't been a great team in the wet the last couple of years and we've often tried to overplay our hand," Foster said. "We're generally a ball in hand team that likes to do things and attack and sometimes that can expose you in wet conditions. I thought he played a really sensible game. He made some obvious calls.
"We put a lot of pressure on the people around him to be really good communicators, the likes of Jack Goodhue, Anton Lienert-Brown, Beaudy and Aaron Smith they all played a big part. When they do that Richie is able to do what he is good at and he sees things.
"He backed himself in a couple of intuitive moments and they came off but he also put his foot to the ball when he needed to and had that kicking control which has been a work on for him."
