{"id":332769,"date":"2025-08-10T09:23:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T09:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/332769\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T09:23:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T09:23:13","slug":"ex-all-black-coach-steve-hansens-verdict-on-richie-moungas-new-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/332769\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-All Black coach Steve Hansen’s verdict on Richie Mo’unga’s new deal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Former All Blacks<\/a> coach Steve Hansen says NZR\u2019s new deal with Richie Mo\u2019unga<\/a> which will bring the playmaker back from Japan<\/a> is a win-win for both parties.<\/p>\n

Mo\u2019unga will return to New Zealand<\/a> in July 2026 on an 18-month deal that runs until the end of the 2027, meaning the first five could feature for the All Blacks in his third Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

Hansen believed Mo\u2019unga would bolster the depth at one of the most crucial positions, with three quality options available for Scott Robertson.<\/p>\n

\"Video<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s obviously a good outcome for Richie, he\u2019s agreed to do it so he\u2019s happy with it,\u201d Hansen told Jason Pine on Newstalk ZB.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s a quality player available for the All Blacks so it\u2019s a great outcome for them as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know he\u2019s a quality player, he\u2019s won many, many titles. The five-eighths your main computer so he\u2019s obviously doing a good job in the team he\u2019s in [Toshiba].<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s had a second World Cup and performed at those levels as well. It adds to the depth with Beauden playing very well, McKenzie playing well.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need depth to be able to win World Cups.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Mo\u2019unga will return in July next year, he won\u2019t be eligible for Test rugby until October despite the All Blacks heading to South Africa<\/a> for a historic three-match series.<\/p>\n

That means he will likely lace up for Canterbury<\/a> in the Bunnings NPC<\/a> until his eligibility lapses before the end-of-year tour.<\/p>\n

With a reduced Test calender in 2027 ahead of the Rugby World Cup, there will be limited game time for Mo\u2019unga to familiarise himself again with Test rugby.<\/p>\n

On concerns Mo\u2019unga could be undercooked heading into the showpiece event, Hansen believed his former experience will be enough. Concerns over the strength of Japanese rugby are overblown according to Hansen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be prepared. You\u2019ve seen Ardie Savea<\/a> come back and play, you\u2019ve seen Beauden Barrett<\/a> come back and play. Both of them played well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is a bit of a myth from years gone by about Japanese rugby, that it\u2019s not strong enough for preparing you for Test footy, but a lot has changed up here, the coaching, the depth of playing quality across all the teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very competitive competition. To be in a winning team like he has, you\u2019ve got to be playing well, got to be committed to your standards and the stuff your team needs you to be doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got no doubt he\u2019ll come back and play well.<\/p>\n

\u201cTest rugby is a big step up from Super Rugby or Japanese rugby, doesn\u2019t matter where you are going, the step up is big.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know he\u2019s been there before and done the job before. Players like Jerome Kaino<\/a> came back and was a superstar.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says NZR\u2019s new deal with Richie Mo\u2019unga which will bring the playmaker…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-332769","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115003746387709605","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}