Rugby Championship: Now or never - time to give Richie Mo'unga his first All Blacks start

Richie Mo'unga of the All Blacks on debut during the International Test match between the New Zealand All Blacks and France played at Forsyth Barr Stadium. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

Changes are coming for the All Blacks this week as they prepare to play Argentina in Nelson and one of the more straightforward, and interesting, selections will be for the No10 jersey which will probably be given to Richie Mo'unga.

Beauden Barrett couldn't have done much more in scoring four tries against Australia at Eden Park last time out and he was pretty good in Sydney the week earlier too. But now it's time for the All Blacks selectors to see what the 24-year-old Crusader can do at the start of a test.

Mo'unga isn't likely to get that chance against the Springboks in Wellington next week, so, after running the water for his teammates in their last two tests now it's time for him to alter the flow in a different and more meaningful way.

He wasn't allowed to play for Canterbury in the interim because of a high workload over the past two seasons relative to his age, but another reason would have been due to the risk of injury and the fact that this test at Trafalgar Park has his name written all over it.

There may be a temptation to start Damian McKenzie, who remains No2 in the first-five pecking order. But McKenzie offers such good value on the reserves bench, and was so good in finishing the demolition job on the Wallabies at Eden Park, that the selectors might opt to keep him there to provide a quality back-up and sense of security.

There aren't too many more tests before the World Cup in which to start Mo'unga in a comfortable environment. The return test against Argentina in Buenos Aires is a possibility but is a completely different prospect to playing in Nelson, which leaves probably only the November tests against Japan in Tokyo and Italy in Rome as other options.

Everyone, including Mo'unga himself, knows he's a talent, so now is probably the time to allow him to express himself because the alternative could lead to frustration.

"Richie is a younger player who in the last two or three years has had massive minutes," assistant coach Ian Foster said today in answering why Mo'unga wasn't allowed to play for Canterbury.

"He's had a big role at the Crusaders and has done that really well. He's carried that on and had big minutes with Canterbury and has done that well. We felt for him it was a good chance to chill out and charge up. He's an explosive athlete and … we thought he'd benefit from a break."

Mo'unga, easily the best-performing first-five in Super Rugby, has played only 11 minutes of test rugby – as a late replacement for McKenzie in the big win over France in Dunedin – but he has showed enough in leading the Crusaders to two titles, and the Barbarians to their narrow loss to the All Blacks at Twickenham in November, that he is not afraid of the big stage.

Foster acknowledged the selectors faced a balancing act this week.

"It's what can we do this week that's going to improve our game and take it to a slightly different level," he said. "We've seen some players grow by having a couple of games in a row and start to get a bit of consistency but we've got to balance that up with the fatigue levels of playing international rugby and making sure whoever goes out there is at 100 per cent and can give it everything.

"It's an exciting group, they all want to play and selection now is as challenging as it has ever been over the last couple of years.

"It's a very energetic team at the moment. And it's a great team to be a part of as they are striving to get better and better. Throughout all the new combinations we've put out there over the last few weeks, it's generated a lot of energy in this group and long may that continue."

Foster said midfielder Ryan Crotty and flanker Sam Cane had trained well after their concussion incidents in Sydney and Auckland and remained on track to be available.

Rieko Ioane will come into the frame after recovering from a hamstring strain and so will another wing, Nehe Milner-Skudder, who has benefited from his time with Manawatu and could be in line to play in his first test since he suffered another shoulder injury while playing the Springboks in Cape Town in October.

"He came into Auckland sharp and he's come here sharp," Foster said. "He keeps knocking on the door."