Richie Mo’unga certainly knows something about being undermined.
Many feel that Beauden Barrett is a true flyhalf for the All Blacks and Mo’unga had his time in the World Cup and that’s all there is to his run-on duties.
“BB is a far better general,” said one Roarer.
Meanwhile, others say he’s just a poor imitation of Beauden Barrett who needs the forward pack dominance in order to perform. This was the very reason that Steve Hansen consistently refused to start Mo’unga despite his brilliant performances in the Super Rugby.
This was the same thing being echoed in The Roar. “Mo’unga is a poor imitation that requires a dominant forward pack. Completely showed up in Rugby World Cup semi,” said another Roarer.
But there is also some backing for Mo’unga.
“Personally I see Mo’unga as a much more rounded No. 10 than Barrett. He has a far better kicking and distributing game and he brings his outside backs into the game more than Barrett.
“Barrett is just a freak of nature, and he is electric and hitting a hole and taking the ball to the line, while his kicking and distribution is good, albeit not great,” another Roarer said.
With such a sharp contrast of views on the flyhalf, what is he really: a brilliant playmaking genius or just a flyhalf dependent on forward-pack dominance to play well?
Richie Mo’unga (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)
Firstly, the main bad game he had was against England, in which the English pack demolished the All Black scrum and dominated in pretty much all aspects. Barrett seemed to have a better game that match, with some breaks and edge passes here and there but not really much to account for.
Barrett could not have been said to have had a good game that match, for he had thrown an intercepted pass or two.
Why had Barrett seemingly done better? I think that it was because he was at fullback, a position with more space and thus he had more chances to run and pass the ball.
Here is one very prominent example of how they allowed Barrett to get more space to do what he does.
A very standard set-piece attack of All Blacks rugby comes to mind here.
Firstly, they put up a typical pod of forwards, then a pass back to a distributor to bridge the play to the open backs. This distributor is often Beauden Barrett, but in this case it’s Scott Barrett, who just puts away a pass through Sevu Reece, the dummy runner, to Mo’unga, who forms a flat passing bridge with Barrett, who is just on his left shoulder.
Here we have a first pod of forwards, bridge and then second pod of primary playmakers (Richie and Beauden) and then George Bridge open out towards the touchline. By conserving Barrett from distribution the All Blacks can bring one more playmaker to the edge to create more space with the draw and pass, a tactic South Africa have also used with alterations through Handre Pollard and Willie le Roux.
Mo’unga does a good no-look pass to Barrett, committing and putting it away without a sideways glance. This allows Barrett to get a better one on Anthony Watson, getting a good draw and pass to put George Bridge away down the wing. But this time Bridge does not get away down the wing and Watson manages to drift across and kill the attack.
In this bit of play Barrett seems to have a bigger hand. New Zealand conserved Barrett by not wasting him on distributory duties, instead having a forward to execute that to put Beauden wider out with Mo’unga, forming a playmaking pod bridge to get the ball away to the winger.
Though the play does not come off, Mo’unga played an equal part in it with the no-look pass.
Meanwhile, both playmakers had made valiant efforts to breach the defence using attacks, but both their efforts were in vain.
How about this one: a phenomenal cross-kick by Mo’unga away down the pitch out wide to Anton Lienert-Brown – this move worked brilliantly against South Africa in the first game, but the physical mismatch between Sevu Reece and Makazole Mapimpi was a key factor. Against most teams this would have worked, but in this case Johnny May killed the play, hitting Lienert-Brown hard and into touch.
Many opportunities had been created by both playmakers on that day, it’s just that the English defence was so good that most were closed down. The ones that worked were never converted into points.
This was the very match that caused great criticism, and though he missed two tackles, he still made the other seven. So if you want to use that game, in which he made play but had his opportunities shut down, it is not enough to disparage all his other moments of brilliance.
Here are some moments of his attacking brilliance. Some plays on the edge from Australia in the Rugby Championship, then the fumble and the awry pass, dropping with a bounce before Mo’unga snapped it up and raced to the line. This is one aspect of Barrett’s game – pace – and Mo’unga has it in plenty as well.
How about this one: it’s not a play from the scrum and you can’t disparage the dependency on forward strength. From the kick-off Mo’unga was doing a grubber – I have never seen this before – and then raced after it.
The bouncing grubber clears the minimum kick-off distance, Mo’unga regathered with a slider and a get-up, busting the tackle of – guess who? Beauden Barrett. This got the Crusaders well into the Blues 22, and this is a big statement. Mo’unga shows up Beauden Barrett.
His cross-kicks have been a key factor in the Crusaders’ success.
He is also good at passing. Against Ireland off the scrum we had a flat pass from Mo’unga to Jack Goodhue on the edge, who released Reece, who put in a final pass to Bridge to score.
Mo’unga iconically chased down on Cheslin Kolbe. A great linebreak, ripping through many players, it became a one on one between Kolbe and Mo’unga, and Mo’unga got to Kolbe and slid to the ankles, sliding him out to touch.
In conclusion, Mo’unga is a great player in his own right, not a mere poor Beauden Barrett imitation, as he has shown with the opportunities he created against England. He is a playmaker and all-rounder. He well deserves the All Blacks No. 10 jersey.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Fair enough, my first choice is RM, but like I said somewhere else, won’t complain if it’s BB. RM can be a great finisher if he is on the bench. I just don’t think we can give up a bench spot for a specialist 10, it’s one reason I would have BB at FB or bench warmer. As for Perth. I think the Red card increased the margin, but think we probably would have still lost. The Wallabies just had the wood on is that day, it happens. We came back the next week and reminded them who we were, so swings and roundabouts. As for RM behind a beaten pack, tbh I haven’t really seen him much behind one to remember or judge him. It doesn’t tend to happen with the Saders or ABs, so... now, BB has lots of practice behind the Canes pack haha :happy:
Paulo
Roar Rookie
And if the ABs lose a game, all the ‘I told you so’s’ come out. I’m with you on the FB, although I do have my favourites, I’d be happy with any of those listed. Same with 1/5, while I would prefer RM, I won’t complain if it’s BB. It does solve the problem of where to put BB, as moving him to FB pushes one of those FB specialists out of position. As we saw with Bender at the World Cup.
Paulo just think about what position comes under pressure the most when a forward gets sent off and the pack goes backwards! No im not atributing those losses all down to Mounga but he was the starting 10 in those. He has very little experience in playing behind a beaten pack and fails to cope when this happens. But again...He's class and most teams in the world would be happy to have him but this is an article asking to choose which one we want so thats what Im choosing....AND YES.....I see the red card Barrett got as a major factor in the loss in Perth....But strangely many dont seem to think that playing with 14 v 15 makes any difference when its an AB thats been sent off yet history very clearly shows us it does.....Perth and the Lions test prove that....
Paulo its crazy.....I would happily have JB, BB, Dmac, Jordan, Havili, as FBs in most teams but the ABs selectors have to pick 1 of them and get it right...Which of course is impossible as you cant please everyone....
He plays behind the best pack in the comp and very unfortunately that gives him no training or experience to fall back on when the going gets tough and he did not handle it at the WC. You say Dmac is a flat track bully yet he led the stats in SR 3 years in a row yet Mounga hasnt dominated stats anywhere near as much but you say hes playing beautifully….And RM is older than Dmac…I guess it ,as usual, comes down to what team you follow. Mounga BB just didnt work like Bb Dmac did…
numpty
Roar Rookie
I believe there is a gentleman by the name of A. Smith who already fits that description in the ABs...
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Yea, it’s a great problem to have. Same with FB options, in some slots it’s seems too many in form players and not enough positions.
or wrong....Its chosing between 2 pretty good players and chances are both will do the job
Absolutely....thats the issue with this sort of article......Both BB and Mounga are world class 10s but this article asks us to select 1 of the two so its selecting a very good world class player to be 2nd on the list
Uriah Heep
Roar Rookie
Laumape showed surprising gas. McKay has wheels - I wouldn't be surprised if he might be a bit quicker than BB from a static start to 30-40 meters
CUW
Roar Rookie
i will still like to see JB go back to where he played at under 20 world cup - 12. he does not have great pace to be attacking threat from 15 but has the size to be a line breaker from centers - being tall and easily over 100kg. think of JB and Reiko in centers - two big tall guys - one can kick like crazy and the other has pace of a wing!!!
CUW
Roar Rookie
It seemed BB has lost pace this season - Laumape went past him and Josh mcCay almost out sprinted him. BB is nearly 30 - so understandable he is losing pace , but that was his main weapon....
Uriah Heep
Roar Rookie
Mounga's proved it quite often. I think even Ioane's starting to prove it. And I only mentioned 1 fault not "all these faults". It is a significant one though. One of the years he won the WRPoTY was 2016 - the only year I think he didn't display his worst flaw. In fact he was well worth his gong that year. 2017 was one of those stupid years for the award - like 2015 or 2009 or 2008. There are plenty. The result was without merit IMO.
jcmasher
Roar Rookie
Interesting analysis and I don't actually see too much between them. However in saying that, while I think there is some merit in what you say I still see too many basic level mistakes in Mo'unga's play and that while he does some flashy stuff at times he also makes more basic mistakes that he shouldn't at that level. I know all players do that at times but I think BB makes less of the simple mistakes because of that I prefer BB. Certainly to start anyway. I do see value in Mo'unga coming off the bench where late in the game his flashy play can get a good win, however, I'd also be wary as a dumb mistake in a tight game could be the difference between winning and losing and I still believe BB is less likely to do that purely because of his experience.
Carlin
Roar Rookie
We also beat the World Champs in the tournament they were crowned World Champs with Mo’unga at 10 and Barrett at 15. I think Barrett was man of the match in that game.
Jimbo
Roar Rookie
The crusaders seem to function pretty well with his "gambles".
Jimbo
Roar Rookie
He was the best 10 in the NZ comp which was brutal so hardly a flat track bully. Also you mention Dmac who is the biggest flat track bully of them all. BB hasn't hit any real heights for a couple of years while Mounga plays beautifully almost weekly. Mounga to start, Jordan at 15 and BB on the bench for mine.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Didn’t you blame the Aus lose on Scotty B getting red carded? Can’t really blame the #10 in that situation - although I don’t attribute the lose to the card, your logic in blaming RM for it contradicts your other posts. We drew with SA and lost to England. It happens. England planned for years for us and smashed us all across the park. We drew with the world champs. Hardly blights on the record. Has BB never lost a game?
Dmac was injured in March 2019 and Mounga then became the starting 10...In that time the ABs lost to Aus, England and drew with SA. Lost the RC and the WC....BB aint perfect but he's superior to Mounga
Im happy to think opposite to you...Mounga has not once proved he's better than BB. You mention all these faults he has yet he won 2 WR player of the year awards in the years you say he has failed