The Black Caps are on their way to a big lead in their second test match against Zimbabwe and the Tall Blacks have won their second match of the Asia Cup. Video / Herald NOW
Richie Mo’unga’s return boosts Scott Robertson’s 4-4-4 project, aiming for four World Cup wins with four options.
Robertson now has Beauden Barrett, Mo’unga and Damian McKenzie as experienced No 10 options.
Managing competition and expectations among the players will be Robertson’s biggest challenge.
By agreeing to come home next year and hang around until the World Cup, Richie Mo’unga has given Scott Robertson’s 4-4-4 project an almighty boost.
The All Blacks head coach has hit on this idea that during his four-year tenure, in order to win a fourth World Cup,the team will need four genuine options in every position.
What sparked this, fittingly, was the unforgettable series of events at the 2011 World Cup which saw the All Blacks lose three No 10s – Daniel Carter, Colin Slade and Aaron Cruden – to injury during the tournament. It was the fourth-choice first five-eighths, Stephen Donald, who steered the team through the last 55 minutes of the final.
Now, with Mo’unga locked in to a New Zealand return that will see him become eligible for All Blacks selection in October next year (the two-test Bledisloe Cup series), Robertson has quite the stockpile of No 10s.
He’s got three highly experienced, gifted footballers in Beauden Barrett, Mo’unga and Damian McKenzie, and, in the background, there is the emerging Ruben Love and the perennially injured Stephen Perofeta – both of whom have potential but no great exposure to the international game to date.
It probably qualifies as an embarrassment of riches; certainly, it’s an enviably deep talent pool, as it’s rare indeed to have three such seasoned, experienced and capable No 10s as Barrett, Mo’unga and McKenzie all vying for World Cup places.
Typically, the stars don’t align like this – three players, all in their 30s, all with more than 50 test caps and all aiming to make the 2027 World Cup the crowning moment of their respective careers.
When a once-in-a-generation talent like Barrett – twice World Player of the Year and closing in on 150 test caps – commits long-term, it’s hard to retain players such as Mo’unga and McKenzie.
Beauden Barrett (from left), Damian McKenzie and Richie Mo'unga have been vying for spots in the All Blacks throughout much of their international careers. Photo / Photosport
It’s a tough sell to persuade good players to stick around in New Zealand when they know they are facing blocked pathways and limited opportunities.
What enabled this situation to arise is Barrett and McKenzie’s versatility, which proved to be an effective means of juggling team needs and personal ambition between 2018 and 2023, when all three were vying for roles.
When Mo’unga moved out of the picture after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the business of accommodating Barrett and McKenzie has been relatively straightforward.
It has been a head-to-head battle between them for the No 10 jersey – both having been afforded ample opportunity to stake their claims.
But the impending return of Mo’unga will dramatically change the dynamic. While an intensity of competition for places is precisely what Robertson wants for his 4-4-4 project, it does leave him facing the toughest test yet of his ability to manage expectation and find a way to keep all three connected to the cause and sure of their respective roles within it.
The All Blacks constantly preach about their team-first values, but it would be naïve to try to hoist them by their own petard and suggest that they can’t virtue-signal one minute and then fret about how hard it will be managing fragile egos the next.
Unity and cohesion are everything and teams start to fall apart if trust and confidence in the coach is eroded by uncertainty.
Competition for places when it is well-managed is inspiring and healthy, but it doesn’t take much for it to be corrosive and debilitating – and a player holding an unappeasable sense of frustration could derail a World Cup bid.
And there is a bigger picture here that could foster an internal sense of injustice, depending on how well Robertson integrates Mo’unga back into the team next year.
Richie Mo'unga experienced success with coach Scott Robertson at the Crusaders. Photo / Photosport
Barrett and McKenzie will have done all the heavy lifting through the four-year cycle, been loyal to the cause, done their hard yards in Super Rugby Pacific and then, 12 months out from the World Cup, in comes Mo’unga – hoping to smash-and-grab the No 10 jersey.
Maybe this is no more than the cut-throat nature of professional sport – the realities of the high-performance world where cruel decisions get made in pursuit of victory – but who wouldn’t feel for Barrett, McKenzie, Love or any long-serving player if they are squeezed out of the World Cup squad by Mo’unga’s late return to the fold?
It would also cast a long shadow over the eligibility policy, which is supposedly designed to protect those who make long-term commitments to New Zealand against being usurped like that.
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) says the protective element in this case is denying Mo’unga All Blacks eligibility until October next year – cutting his runway down to 12 pre-World Cup squad selection tests – even though he will be home from Japan in May.
But that will unlikely make McKenzie or Love feel it was an effective measure if they don’t find themselves on the plane to Australia in 2027.
It also won’t change the fact that Mo’unga could spend three years in Japan, return to New Zealand for one NPC and one Super campaign, go to the World Cup with the All Blacks and then return to Japan in 2028.
Again, is this simply what professional sport looks like, or has NZR made a poor and short-sighted decision to bring Mo’unga home on a short-term deal that compromises the integrity of the eligibility policy and devalues the commitment others have made to be here for the full World Cup cycle?
Mo’unga is a good player – maybe even more than that – but Robertson now faces an extraordinary challenge in successfully and harmoniously reintroducing him to the All Blacks with limited ructions, in a way that opens a pathway for project 4-4-4 to be relaunched in 2028 as project 4-5-4.
