Richie Mo’unga will pull on the black jersey again early on Wednesday morning New Zealand time, almost three years after he last wore it in a World Cup final that got away by a single point. The 32 year old first five-eighth has been named to start against the Lions at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, in the last of the four franchise matches on the All Blacks tour of South Africa. Kick off is 7pm local time, which is 5am on Wednesday 26 August in New Zealand.
Mo’unga has 56 Test caps and has not played for the All Blacks since the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against the Springboks. He spent three seasons in Japan with Toshiba Brave Lupus, winning two League One titles, before signing an 18 month deal with New Zealand Rugby and returning to play for Canterbury in the NPC. He joined the touring squad in South Africa as injury cover and watched the first Test from the sideline.
“It’s really special. It’s been a long time. I’m grateful to be back in this environment,” Mo’unga told 1News.
He said the decision to come home was made in Japan, watching other people play. “It was sitting in Japan one night watching Six Nations knowing there’s no better feeling than being in the arena,” he said. “When you’re watching test matches over in Europe and watching the All Blacks play you never get that feeling. One reason for coming back was to win a World Cup but to not have any regrets of wishing I gave it another crack or thinking there was more to give.”
Standing in the stand at Ellis Park on Saturday and hearing the anthem brought it home. “I knew I missed it but coming back in you realise that this is a really special circle to be in. I’m savouring every moment. I’m not going to take these things for granted. There’s an awesome buzz in this group,” he said.
The jersey he once owned now belongs to Ruben Love, who has steered the side through an unbeaten run this season, and Mo’unga was clear that he is not turning up to take it back. “I’ve been so impressed with how he’s played this season as a Hurricanes player and All Black,” he said. “Coming into this team, it’s not about trying to get back in the 10 jersey it’s about nailing my role at this moment.”
Patrick Tuipulotu captains the side from lock. Beauden Barrett starts at fullback, Rieko Ioane at centre and Noah Hotham at halfback for his first All Blacks appearance of 2026. Prop Saula Ma’u will make his debut off the bench, alongside Ofa Tu’ungafasi and Jamie Hannah, who flew into the country only days ago as injury cover. Kyle Preston, also on the bench, becomes the only player to appear in every match of the tour.
“Firstly, I want to congratulate Saula on making his All Blacks debut. It will be a special day for him and his family,” coach Dave Rennie said in the team announcement. “With the naming of this matchday 23, everyone currently in the squad will have played on tour, which is great for creating depth and competition for places in the Test team.”
Rennie said the three day turnaround from the Test had been shared across the whole squad. “We know we will have to be at our very best again to prepare for what we know will be another physical match against a Lions side that has been lying in wait,” he said.
This is the first time the All Blacks have played the Lions franchise, but the fixture has deep roots. New Zealand met the Lions predecessor Transvaal sides eight times between 1928 and 1976. The locals won that very first match 6-0, and the All Blacks won the seven that followed. That 1928 game was the first match ever played at Ellis Park, which makes Wednesday morning something close to an anniversary fixture on a ground the All Blacks helped christen.
The Lions are no longer a warm up side. Coached by Ivan van Rooyen, with 2007 World Cup winner Jaque Fourie running their defence and Morne Steyn helping with the kicking, they won 10 and drew one of their 18 United Rugby Championship matches last season and took the competition’s South African Shield for the first time, as the All Blacks noted in their own preview of the opposition. They also reached three straight Super Rugby finals between 2016 and 2018.
Mo’unga’s return caps a fortnight that has gone almost entirely New Zealand’s way. The tour, the first full scale All Blacks tour of South Africa since 1996, opened with a 38-21 win over the Stormers in Cape Town, then 54-0 over the Sharks in Durban and 50-19 over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld. On Saturday the All Blacks beat the Springboks 33-16 at Ellis Park and ended a 12 Test winning run by the world champions.
The All Blacks match report records five tries to one, two of them to Will Jordan, with Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland and Luke Jacobson also scoring and Ruben Love landing four conversions. New Zealand trailed 13-12 at halftime and had only 39 percent of the territory across the match, but made 132 tackles to 86 and won 14 turnovers to five. Holland’s charge down of a clearing kick in the 47th minute turned the game, and two late yellow cards to South Africa let the visitors finish comfortably.
After the Lions, the provincial part of the tour is finished and the series takes over. The second Test is at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday 29 August, the third at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 5 September, and the fourth at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on 12 September. The tour trophy has been made in two halves held together by magnets. The winner takes both halves after the final Test. If the series is drawn, each country keeps one half.
For Mo’unga, none of that is settled yet, and he seems content to sit inside the uncertainty. “Looking back at the last couple of months, it’s been the perfect way to come back into this environment, having two NPC games, getting back into some rhythm back home, back in the Canterbury team, and then back in here,” he said. “I wanted to be here but I was at peace with what was going on.”
Are you setting the alarm for 5am to watch Mo’unga’s first game back in black? Tell us in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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