The Star: July 16, 2020

Following the Crusaders’
thrilling clash with the
Blues on Saturday night
in Super Rugby Aotearoa,
Gregor Paul analyses the
Beauden Barrett v Richie
Mo’unga All Blacks debate
– and writes that the
decision is obvious
IT IS time for all of New Zealand
to realise just how good Richie
Mo’unga is. At the moment he’s
the best first-five in the country
and whether the All Blacks
persist with their dual playmaker
strategy or not, Mo’unga has to
be wearing No 10.
Beauden Barrett is the better
rugby player – equipped with
more skills and weapons to strike
an effective attack, but Mo’unga
is the better specialist No 10.
If that wasn’t definitive coming
into Super Rugby Aotearoa
post lockdown, it is now after
Mo’unga did the hardest thing in
rugby by putting a forgettable 40
minutes behind him against the
Blues to somehow find a way to
win his team the toughest contest
they have had in years.
No one should underestimate
the resilience and mental capacity
Mo’unga showed to glue himself
together in Christchurch,
patch up the psychological crack
that was threatening to split him
open and produce a brave, innovative
and frankly brilliant final
quarter to ensure the Crusaders
stretched their unbeaten run at
home to 36 games.
Dan Carter is the greatest
New Zealand has ever produced
and while he had a vast range of
skills, it was his composure and
refusal to ever panic or doubt
himself that set him apart.
And Mo’unga seems to have
that same gift: that same unflappable
nature which doesn’t allow
mistakes to eat him up or get
inside his head.
It’s a treasured skill to possess
and so few have it naturally and
not many learn to develop it
either.
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Mo’unga v Barrett - who
should be the All Blacks No 10
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CAMARADERIE: Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett joke around following the round 5
Super Rugby Aotearoa match between the Crusaders and the Blues. PHOTO: GETTY
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WE’RE BACK!
Plenty of young No 10s have
made a few mistakes in big
games and fallen apart. The first
test Aaron Cruden started in
2010 he kicked the ball out on
the full, made a few more mistakes
and was subbed long before
the end and not then initially
picked in the World Cup squad.
Barrett also suffered a memorable
meltdown in the 2015
Super Rugby final, failing to
deliver the sort of magic against
the Highlanders which he had
produced all year.
His demons engulfed him in
Wellington five years ago and
that disappointment was the
making of him as a world-class
No 10.
He returned in 2016 mentally
tougher and his performances
in the three playoff games were
tactically smart, technically
immaculate and about the most
composed, polished rugby he’s
ever produced.
Mo’unga has steered the Crusaders
to three successive titles
and played at a World Cup, making
it seem a little strange to suggest
that a mid-season encounter
against the Blues is the moment
he came of age.
But never before has he so obviously
found a way to respond
and react so effectively under
pressure. He won that game for
the Crusaders and with it, they
have just about secured the title.
It was almost a final and for
50 or so minutes, the Blues were
threatening to win it. They had
Cantabrians have known
for a few years now
what a special talent the
Crusaders No 10 is but the
rest of the country hasn’t
been quite as sure.
the game where they wanted it
after Rieko Ioane scored his try
and the only hope the Crusaders
had was if they could find a hero,
a means by which someone could
do something extraordinary and
wrestle back the momentum.
It was Mo’unga who stood
up and did just that. And what
made it so much braver was that
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a few things in the first half had
enormous potential to undermine
his confidence and see him
crawl into a conservative mindset
and stop trusting himself to
play his natural game.
He kicked an easy penalty
into the dead ball area,
squandering a golden
opportunity to set-up for a
short-range lineout drive.
Mo’unga kicked a couple
of times when he had men
screaming outside him to keep it
in hand and there were two wild
inside passes to no one.
He looked like the occasion
was getting to him. That the
mistakes were compounding and
eroding his confidence and then
suddenly he took control, pulling
off the nearly impossible act of
retrieving his own short kick-off
and then delaying beautifully his
perfect pass to put Will Jordan
over for the critical try.
But he came of age on Saturday
night and ended any lingering
debate about who should be
wearing the All Blacks No 10
jersey this year. - NZ Herald
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Thursday July 16 2020 The Star
SPORT 31
Graham
to hold
court
again
• By David De Somma
SIX YEARS on, and veteran
harness racing trainer Graham
Court is about to take over the top
job at Harcourt Lodge, again.
Now 70, Graham Court will
become the stable’s official trainer
when 40-year-old son Paul and
his young family relocate to
Canada next month.
In 2016 Paul Court took over
from his father, after the pair had
trained nearly 100 winners together
(2009-2015). That included
three consecutive New Zealand
Cups with Terror to Love, the
horse they’ll forever be associated
with.
This season Paul has trained
27 winners, the latest being Stick
Man at Addington on July 5.
Said Paul: “It’s not been an
easy decision. But we’re ready
for something new… it’s time to
put the family first and go from
there.”
He married Canadian-born
Chantelle Swanson sight unseen
in a “Three Strangers and a Wedding”
radio promotion in 2007.
Now they and their two children
are heading back to her home
country. It’s not the first time Paul
Court has spent extended time
there – though this time it seems
it’s for keeps.
On his own account Graham
has trained 204 winners, his career
starting in the late 1970s.
“A lot of owners I’ve had for
over 40 years and I’ve got some
new ones with Paul and I’m not
prepared to throw it all away. I’m
just the boss again.”
Court senior has always been
hands-on.
‘We are doing about 30 with
about 15-20 yearlings to come
back into work so there are plenty
of numbers.” - Harness News Desk
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