Richie Mo'unga to play for All Blacks for first time since 2023 World Cup final
New Zealand fly-half Richie Mo'unga will play for the All Blacks on Tuesday for the first time since the 2023 World Cup final. He will start against the Lions at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg and will seek to earn a place in the national team's squad for the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
Return to the national team
According to Channel NewsAsia, the 32-year-old Mo'unga was called into the team as a replacement for an injured player. New head coach Dave Rennie is seeking to integrate the rugby player into the squad a year before the World Cup.
Mo'unga spent three seasons with Japanese club Toshiba Brave Lupus. Due to the All Blacks' rule of selecting only players who play in New Zealand, he could not contend for a call-up to the national team. In June, the rugby player returned to New Zealand and took part in the All Blacks training camp.
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Match in Johannesburg
The game against the Lions will be New Zealand's final match against a provincial opponent during an eight-match tour of South Africa. Mo'unga received his first opportunity to play for Canterbury only after the tour participants departed for South Africa. Billy Proctor's injury gave Rennie the opportunity to call up Mo'unga as a replacement.
The All Blacks' current first-choice fly-half is Ruben Love. According to the source's assessment, without an injury or a significant drop in Love's form, Mo'unga has little chance of playing in the three remaining test matches. On Saturday, New Zealand beat South Africa 33:16 at Ellis Park in the first of four tests in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series. In the 2023 World Cup final, New Zealand lost to South Africa in Paris by one point.
