Richie Mo’unga’s decision to stay in Japan pressures Scott Robertson on All Blacks’ first-five selection.
Robertson faces challenges with aging players and limited depth in the first-five position.
Emerging talents like Josh Jacomb and Lucas Cashmore may need opportunities to gain experience.
Richie Mo’unga’s decision to stay in Japan, rather than attach himself to some rule-bending slickness to ensure his return for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, has turned up the heat on All Blacks coach Scott Robertson and his selection policies.
Ifit’s true that Robertson and New Zealand Rugby (NZR) boss Mark Robinson saw Mo’unga in Japan – returning home empty-handed – it means some talent identification and development will be needed to make sure all bases are covered in the All Blacks first-five position.
Yes, Beauden Barrett finished last season as preferred No 10 and is still a class player. Yes, Damian McKenzie is also available and is clearly the All Blacks’ best goalkicker. Stephen Perofeta will turn out for the Blues this year and it is to be hoped he sees more game time there than the woeful amount he was awarded in a black jersey last season.
Mo’unga will now not be available to New Zealand until at least midway through next year, maybe later. In theory, that still gives him time to adjust to international rugby after a three-year absence – but that’s not easy, even for talented players. It’s evident playing in Japan does not prepare players well for the demands of the next level up – witness Barrett’s own form when he returned from his Japanese sabbatical.
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Scott Robertson must look both inwards and outside his All Blacks camp for options at No 10. Photo / Getty Images
We may never know why Mo’unga turned down the chance to come back early, whether it was lack of a significant financial incentive or whether the bait of further tests and another World Cup campaign was insufficient to dislodge him from his Toshiba club, where he is said to be earning $2 million over the three years. Robinson may well be relieved; it would not have been an easy sell explaining why it is alright to select some players who go overseas but not others. The precedent could have been door-opening.
However, while the No 10 situation is not quite a crisis, the coach now has two major concerns: first, age – Barrett will be 35 come the next Cup, McKenzie 31, Perofeta 29 and Mo’unga 32. Experience is invaluable, of course, but age can also mean a levelling-off of performance; injuries take longer to heal, absences are longer, returns more difficult. Logic dictates that players who are not Barrett or McKenzie will need some game time to gain that experience.
Second, below the topline 10s the cupboard, if not bare, is certainly barely stocked. Harry Plummer will play this season for the Blues but is then off to France, a decision at least partly made by all the talk of Mo’unga’s likely return. Plummer, 26, had a breakout season in 2024, making the All Blacks – but could see he was fourth in the pecking order and fifth if Mo’unga returned. The wisdom of Robertson’s public courting of Mo’unga looks flawed now. Counting Plummer, there are five first fives now gone who might have stepped up in talent and selection terms this season:
Fergus Burke (left Crusaders for Saracens in England).
Brett Cameron (Hurricanes, bad injury, could be back this year but 2026 more likely).
Aidan Morgan (Hurricanes, now playing for Ulster in Ireland).
Josh Ioane (Highlanders and Chiefs, now playing for Connacht in Ireland).
Harry Plummer and Will Jordan after the All Blacks' victory over Australia in Sydney. Photo / Getty Images
Robertson’s other issue is that the team faces multiple World Cup champions, the Springboks, this season. He will somehow have to convince his top playmakers that he had faith in them all along, not as simple as it sounds in the hard-bitten, cynical world of professional sport. He must also find room for new talent so he can fill the gaps if inevitable injuries and other circumstances intervene. It generally hasn’t been his way in what can only be termed an average regime so far.
Chiefs youngster Josh Jacomb, 23, is well regarded but has McKenzie ahead of him and potentially Shaun Stevenson at fullback, negating McKenzie’s potential shift to 15 (though Stevenson will miss the first three Super Rugby matches because of his sabbatical in Japan). Jacomb’s Super Rugby game time might thus be limited. The Chiefs play the Blues, Crusaders and Brumbies first up – not a lot of experimental room there.
Blues youngster Lucas Cashmore, 22, has shifted to the Hurricanes to cover Cameron’s absence and because there was no room with Barrett, Plummer and Perofeta all selected as first fives. He played well for Bay of Plenty last season and could make strides this year. The Highlanders’ Cameron Millar is also 22 and a deadly goalkicker while Ajay Faleafaga, 21, looks an exciting running first five; it will be interesting to see which coach Jamie Joseph prefers. That’s about it – the two Crusaders rookies, Rivez Reihana and Taha Kemara, have promise but are likely to be benched behind former Wallaby James O’Connor – a selection which says as much about the first five situation in New Zealand as anything.
Robertson will almost certainly have to consider widening his philosophy at No 10 now. Putting all his eggs in the veterans’ basket may look the best strategy right now – and surely nothing can happen to Barrett, McKenzie and Perofeta?
However, as Douglas Adams, the author of the wonderful Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, once said: “The major difference between the thing that might go wrong and the thing that could not possibly go wrong, is that when the thing that could not possibly go wrong goes wrong, it is impossible to repair.”
