World Cup-winning former New Zealand coach Graham Henry is back in the All-Blacks fold as a selector for Dave Rennie\u2019s team but flyhalf Richie Mo\u2019unga\u2019s return has been pushed back due to eligibility concerns.<\/p>\n
Rennie told New Zealand media on Tuesday that he was excited to bring in \u201cavid (rugby) watcher\u201d Henry, who guided the All Blacks to their second World Cup title on home soil in 2011.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very passionate and he loves the jersey. He watches a lot of rugby, and he\u2019s got pretty strong opinions on players so the conversations we had have been brilliant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hoping that with his eye, he may see something different to us which will help get the right people within the squad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry coached the All Blacks in 140 matches from 2004-11 before taking roles for a slew of teams, including Argentina and Irish powerhouse Leinster.<\/p>\n
He later returned to New Zealand Rugby in a technical role for the national women\u2019s team, combining with his former All Blacks deputy Wayne Smith to steer the Black Ferns to their home Women\u2019s World Cup triumph in 2022.<\/p>\n
One of Henry\u2019s slam-dunk selections will not be available for much of the All-Blacks\u2019 season, though, as Japan-based Mo\u2019unga finishes his contract for Toshiba Brave Lupus.<\/p>\n
Rennie said 56-test flyhalf Mo\u2019unga had yet to sign a long-term contract with New Zealand Rugby and would need to play for Canterbury in the National Provincial Championship (NPC) to earn the right for selection.<\/p>\n
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) bars overseas-based players from being picked for the All Blacks but some are granted short-term sabbaticals to play in foreign competitions in long-term national contracts.<\/p>\n
Rennie said he had hoped Mo\u2019unga could join his squad for the four-test tour of South Africa starting in August, but NZR had other ideas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got his head around it, he\u2019s prepared to go and play NPC,\u201d said Rennie of the 31-year-old playmaker.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve accepted that situation and understand New Zealand Rugby\u2019s mindset around it. We\u2019ll just get on with it now.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–Reuters–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23623,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-34399","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Rennie said he had hoped Mo\u2019unga could join his squad for the four-test tour of South Africa starting in August, but NZR had other ideas.","published_date":"","news_description":"Rennie said he had hoped Mo\u2019unga could join his squad for the four-test tour of South Africa starting in August, but NZR had other ideas.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34400,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34399\/revisions\/34400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=34399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}