Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read has blasted NZ Rugby after it confirmed that Richie Mo’unga will not be eligible for the Greatest Rivalry tour.
Mo’unga returns to New Zealand from Japan in July after three seasons with the Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, having signed an 18-month deal with NZ Rugby.
But despite being contracted to NZ Rugby, the 31-year-old must first play domestic rugby for Canterbury before he becomes eligible for the All Blacks again.
That means he is set to miss New Zealand’s Nations Championship Tests in July as well as the eight-match tour of South Africa in August and September.
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Read said the decision makes little sense.
“You’ve changed it before,” he said on The Agenda podcast. “It would be a travesty if you’re running out in the first Test against South Africa and Richie Mo’unga is playing here for Canterbury.
“It would make no sense. It’d be ridiculous.”
NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Lancaster said the governing body discussed Mo’unga’s case internally, but opted not to ask its board for an exemption.
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Read believes that if new All Blacks coach Dave Rennie wants Mo’unga available, the rules should be adjusted.
“They made the rules, so they can change the rules,” said Read. “Play them in the team that they deserve to be in and if the coach wants to pick them, that’s where they should be.”
Read pointed to previous exceptions, including loose forward Matt Todd, who was selected from Japan in 2018, and Georgia Ponsonby, who recently received an exemption to play for the Black Ferns.
Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
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