Richie’s riches:

It has been a fascinating exercise watching New Zealand’s reaction to the Saturday’s loss against the Springboks.

Beauden Barrett’s suspect goalkicking and game management was somewhat predictable to those of us who began to raise our doubts at the start of 2017, given the mounting evidence that there were issues with segments of his game.

Yet somehow that very specific problem has been rolled into a broader assertion that New Zealand has a philosophical issue with the dropped goal.

That’s not entirely true. In fact, guess the only team that has kicked droppies in the past two World Cup semifinals?

Clue: the same team in black which also kicked one in the 2015 World Cup final.

It was not by the same player either. In 2015 it was Dan Carter’s left foot doing the damage. In 2011 it was Aaron Cruden who applied the scoreboard squeeze against the Wallabies in their semifinal at Eden Park.

So what we have is not a question of philosophy but one of personnel.

The three key men on Saturday were Barrett, TJ Perenara and Damian McKenzie. For all of their skills, and they are fabulous, it would be a brave soul to claim that the trio, based on what they have produced over the past two years, are the best individuals available in New Zealand to close out a game.

The All Blacks have gone all in on an attacking strategy that can be viewed two ways: a revolutionary strategy that will take the game forward, or an almost hubristic neglect of test rugby’s traditions.

For the last 15 minutes of the test against the Springboks it looked more like the latter.

Can you win close test matches, the ones that really matter, without a top-class goalkicker with ice in his veins? You cannot.

Can you expect to blast every opponent off the pitch with pace? No, not if they find two extra gears, as Warren Whiteley did on Saturday with his extraordinary running down of Perenara with the Hurricane No 9 destined for a try under the sticks.

Enter Richie Mo’unga into the debate.

The Crusaders No 10 made some mistakes in his starting debut against the Pumas but to the coaches’ great credit they gave him the full 80 minutes.

The one thing that most agree