All Blacks call up Narawa as Mo'unga ruled out of Bledisloe Cup with calf injury

Richie Mo’unga will miss New Zealand’s entire Bledisloe Cup series against Australia after sustaining a calf injury at training in Auckland on Tuesday, forcing the All Blacks into a reshuffle that sees Emoni Narawa drafted into the squad.

Mo’unga had been named internally to start this weekend’s first Test against the Wallabies before the setback triggered changes to the matchday 23. Damian McKenzie will now wear the No.10 jersey, with Beauden Barrett coming in at fullback to cover the positional shift.

Head coach Dave Rennie confirmed the injury on Thursday and acknowledged that Mo’unga’s return timeline remains unclear. Should the calf complaint also rule the playmaker out of the upcoming Northern Tour, Rennie indicated the team may turn to younger options at fly-half. “There are a couple of guys that have gone really well in the NPC,” Rennie said, with Ruben Love also unavailable for the rest of the year.

Narawa, who has been part of the All Blacks setup since 2023, is no stranger to injury-cover call-ups, though he has impressed in his limited opportunities on the field. His inclusion is relatively straightforward given Bay of Plenty’s NPC campaign has already concluded, meaning his departure does not affect this weekend’s quarter-finals.

The same cannot be said for outside back Chay Fihaki, who had been named on the right wing for Canterbury ahead of their quarter-final before being pulled into camp to replace Fehi Fineanganofo.

Rennie also revealed he had weighed up releasing Taranaki first-five Josh Jacomb to play in the NPC quarter-final against North Harbour, but ultimately decided to retain the additional fly-half cover in camp following Mo’unga’s setback.