Shag slows Mo’unga bandwagon
Steve Hansen has a stack of All Blacks to track during the Super Rugby final in Christchurch on Saturday night, but he will especially be keeping an eagle eye on Crusaders first-five Richie Mo’unga.
The Mo’unga bandwagon has been gaining steam in recent weeks, and the All Blacks coach accepts he’s putting heat on incumbent Beauden Barrett. But he is urging those calling for him to become the starter to back up the truck.
‘‘He’s playing behind a RollsRoyce pack, though. But, yeah, he is. He’s playing the way we’re expecting him to play behind a pack like that,’’ Hansen said when asked if Mo’unga was nipping at Barrett’s and Damian McKenzie’s heels.
‘‘It’s going to be really interesting to see how he does in a big game. It’s not a test match, but it’s probably the closest you will get to one without playing one. I’m really looking forward to seeing how he drives the team around the park and does those things.’’
Mo’unga outshone Barrett in last week’s semifinal win against the Hurricanes, and is a win against the Lions away from guiding the red and blacks to consecutive Super Rugby titles.
The 24-year-old Christchurch product made his All Blacks debut off the bench against France in June and, barring injury, on Monday will be named in the All Blacks squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship.
Hansen, a former Crusaders assistant coach, won’t just be watching the decider to analyse the Crusaders’ All Blacks.
‘‘Whilst I’m an All Blacks selector, I’m still very much a Crusaders supporter when I’m in a situation where I don’t have to be unbiased. In this case I can be bias and I just hope the Crusaders win,’’ he told media in Christchurch yesterday.
However, unlike many, he isn’t writing off the South Africans as they attempt to do something no other team has done before – beat the Crusaders in a playoff game in Christchurch.
In pursuit of their ninth title, the Crusaders are 20-0 in home playoff games, while they haven’t tasted defeat in a Super match in the Garden City since Scott Robertson took over from Todd Blackadder at the start of last year.
The bookies have stamped the Crusaders as whopping $1.08 favourites, while the Lions are staggering $7 outsiders.
Hansen dug up a dark day for New Zealand rugby – the 2007 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal loss to France in 2007 – when arguing the game was far from a forgone conclusion.
‘‘I think Cantabrians need to be a little bit more aware that it’s only a two-horse race,’’ Hansen said. ‘‘People didn’t think that France could win and we got smacked, and smacked quite badly.
‘‘When you look at a contest like this one, you say to yourself, ‘righto who is going to dominate the scrum?’, and you can’t really say. ‘Who is going to dominate the lineup?’, and you can’t really say. So it’s going to be who turns up on the night and gets it right, is going to be able to supply the right quality of football to the backs. Both backlines are quite exciting.’’
Hansen also saved some praise for Robertson, who boasts a 33-3 record as Crusaders coach, and, along with assistants Brad Mooar, Jason Ryan and Ronan O’Gara, last week received standing ovations from a segment of the Christchurch crowd, before kickoff and shortly before the final whistle.
‘‘You have to be impressed, don’t you? They’ve won the thing, they’re playing good rugby and they’re good to work with. He’s his own man, Razor, he’s different. I mean, last week he was wondering around the stadium waving to everybody. Not many people would do that, but that’s the unique thing about him.
‘‘He is unique, and he is what he is, and brings an infectious excitement with him.’’