Does Mo'unga deserve All Blacks selection?

9 A. Smith 10 B. Barrett 11 R. Ioane 12 R. Crotty 13 J. Goodhue 14 W. Naholo 15 B. Smith 21 T. Perenara 22 R. Mo’unga 23 Lienart-Brown In the last 20-30 minutes, sub on Mo’unga @ 10 and shift B.B. to 15 and BS to 14 with Naholo subbed off. I also believe that with Crotty starting, you need to have a reliable Center on the bench (I prefer Laumape over ALB but clearly Laumape has fallen out of favour and will only dress if there is an injury)

At least Toomua has a go at tackling. Foley hides on the wing in defence or when he is to slow to run to the wing in time if the All Blacks get an attacking turnover, the All Blacks run at him because he is caught in the 10/12 channel and thus is run over every time. he is a massive liability. He needs to go.

Jacko you are right for once. It will be a 10 and 12 Tahs .13 will be ???????

" Happens to players like Sexton, Foley, and other top tens as well " You`re kidding yourself. Foley aint a top 10.

I'm done, Jacko, have a nice night.

So why cant that theory of yours apply equally to the Tahs 10, 12, 13?...They are as good man for man as any others barring the 2 injured centres and have played together all season.....why is my suggestion silly but yours genius when we have the same suggestion? YOU rate Goodhue as good as ALB or Crotty at 13...Hansen clearly doesnt....so Hansen selects his best 10,12,13 and I garantee come the first test against Aus it wont be Mounga, Crotty Goodhue so Hansen trumps you me and everyone else

What must be remembered in the BB vs Mounga is that the latter is like a more improved version of Sopoaga even at his best. He’s quicker in both pace and sidestep and can kick. Sopoaga had one good game in Test rugby against the Boks and then faded. Important to see how Mounga does in ABs shirt. He was excellent for the Barbarians against the ABs last season – gave BB a torrid time. He’s shown great ticker i coming back from serious injuries. I think what his true strength like Cruden is that he brings a great option to BB and Dmac who can really struggle when a game just needs management. The 2nd game in the Lions series is a case in point. I think Mounga should be tested as a starter in S.A and Argentina. I think he should also be given 30 minutes off the pine in games against England and Ireland … we know what DMac offers – Mounga should be tested before RWC year …

Quite the opposite....i think you have players you want desperately in the NZ team....I have no idea why it gets up your nose so much that Dmac is still considered by Hansen to be the 2nd best 10...That may well change and if Mounga is better than Dmac then great...how good is that for the ABs and it wont affect my Chiefs ....You want BB out...Dmac out...ALB out...and you want them all replaced with Crusaders.....Also I think you get your Barrets all mixed up...How many times has BB started as FB for either the ABs or the canes? I dont think he has for the ABs and I dont remember it for the Canes...dont care if Im remembering wrong as if he has then it will be very few times.

Fionn you are rubbishing the POTY just because you want to see someone else in his position.......he is good enough to win...2 years straight...the best player in the world award....now to me these awards are a bit argueable because of positions and teams that playerts play in etc but you cannot possibly say BB has all these weaknesses as those with weaknesses do not get those awards....I think you are so desperate to see him moved on for some unknown reason and I dont get you analysis of the guys so called lack of passing ability and lack of game management skill....they cant be as bad as you are claiming otherwise he would not be the current ABs 10 or the current POTY......

Not really, you evidently didn't understand what I was saying. I shouldn't bother explaining to you as I doubt you'll take it on board, but I'll give it a go. If three players play together for 8 months a year they obviously learn to play as a team and combination better than if they only play together for 4 months a year. Most of the great centre partnerships play together at club level as well as international. That isn't saying that you pick a worse player over a better one, but if the best players play together at club level it is a benefit to the international side. Or if an international coach has a choice between two equally good players at 12, one of whom plays with the starting 13 at club level then they should go for that one. Very few people would suggest that ALB or McKenzie are better at 13 and 10 in 2018 than Goodhue/Crotty and Mounga. So a lot is gained from picking Mounga at 10 given Crotty and Goodhue are probably your best 12 and 13.

Yes, he's started at fullback, Jacko. Does it make a difference if he starts there for the Canes or not? Of course you'd play him at 10 for the Hurricanes as having 10. Barrett, 15. J. Barrett/Milner-Skudder is much better than 10. West, 15. B. Barrett. It doesn't take a genius to work that out. I think you're a tad upset that people rate Mounga higher than McKenzie.

Jacko, are you seriously saying Barrett has proved himself a good game manager? If so, LOL! I don't even think he would say that game management (or passing) are two of his strengths. No one is denying whether he is WPOTY. I can't work out if you're being argumentative or you honestly cannot understand the fact that he cannot do most of the same things from fullback. And yeah, Piru, that's absolutely the case. It's as if the 10 doesn't matter. The Crusaders averaged 40 points in the games Mounga played, and 22 without him. Evidently, the 10 makes a huge difference.

Sorry to butt in - but this argument about 10s playing behind better packs has always annoyed me. People used to use it all the time to make arguments against Dan Carter. A good 10 makes his pack better, it's not all a one way street.

So according to you the best player in the world has a less than effective passing game and is not great at game Management? Specifically of course...and if they havnt improved in the last 2 years could it be because he has been POTY for those same 2 years you say he lacks in?

Just showing you your theories applied to Aus instead of NZ

Yeah...10 mins a match.....He is a 10 with versatility....that is his position....Has he ever started at FB???? ..what about at SR level..?????

Richie is positively banging the door down isn't he. Barrett is in no way going to be displaced before Tokyo though, so let's put that to bed. Mo'unga's skill-set grows and frankly some of his game-management and passing, especially in a pressure cooker where his team had little of the ball are impressive. Would like to see him get a start but he remains the understudy; the All Blacks are looking lucky at 1st five again.

I've never been particularly sold on his passing game, TMan. Paul Cully pointed it out about a year and a half ago and I've watched it pretty closely since. It isn't bad, it just isn't as good as Mounga's. I suspect that had Hansen known he would lose the next test and draw the next one that he might have keep the 10. Cruden, 15. Barrett combination that worked so well in the first test. I don't think he is a dumb player at all, I just think that a lot of his brilliance seems to be instinctive in broken play, not demonstrative of a visionary tactician. No 10 plays well all the time, but I heard someone once say that Perenara and Barrett are the closest thing New Zealand has to a much better version of Phipps and Foley, and I must say I see what they mean. When Barrett is rattled he hasn't shown much of an ability to adjust and to combat rush defences, for example.

Again, why? He did see them playing like that in the first test and didnt keep that combination and personally, I dont know where youre getting his lack of a passing game from...Nick? Nick also says hes a dumb footballer, Smith being the ‘brains’ of the two. If the two time world POTY is dumb it doesnt say much for the rest of them. For me he simply has a style that sometimes doesnt come off when hes tied down. Happens to players like Sexton, Foley, and other top tens as well. Have never heard Hansen or for that matter many mention that at all. Your projecting what you think Hansen is thinking when he aint thinking like that at all. His selections continue to confirm that.

I suspect that Hansen might have been hoping for greater growth from Barrett in terms of game management and his passing skills. Back in 2016 I thought he was the right call over Cruden, but those things haven't really improved all that much. Maybe he is still the best option at 10, who knows, but I would imagine Hansen would be interested in seeing 10. Mounga, 14. Smith, 15. Barrett after how well the All Blacks played against the Lions in the first test when Barrett switched to fullback and Cruden played at 10 for most of the game.