Mo'unga's 2am wake-up call ends three-year All Blacks exile ahead of Rugby World Cup

Richie Mo’unga’s return to the All Blacks began with a missed call and a sleepless night. The experienced first five-eighth had been out of the New Zealand setup since the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final — a 12-11 defeat to the Springboks — when new head coach Dave Rennie reached out in August 2025 to cover for the injured Billy Proctor, who had been ruled out of the South Africa tour with a fractured shoulder blade.

Mo’unga had gone to bed early that evening, around 9pm New Zealand time, and didn’t see Rennie’s message until a 2am wake-up jolted him back to consciousness. Unable to get back to sleep, he messaged the coach immediately — only for Rennie to call him properly the following morning.

“I can’t go back to sleep now knowing that he needs to talk to me. But I think when I messaged back, he didn’t even reply and he just called me in the morning,” Mo’unga told RugbyPass in Sydney last month.

That same afternoon, Mo’unga began the long-haul journey to South Africa. His return to the squad was confirmed publicly on August 12. The then 56-cap veteran started against the Lions in Johannesburg before taking the No. 10 jersey for the fourth Test against the Springboks.

The three-year gap had changed the landscape around him considerably. Mo’unga had spent his time away in Japan, signing a three-year deal with Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo and helping the club win back-to-back Japan Rugby League One titles in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons. Back in the All Blacks environment, he found himself alongside players who had made their Super Rugby debuts during his absence.

“I’d been away for three seasons, I’d come back and I was meeting guys for the first time in the team,” he said. “I was coming back into a different team, a team run by a different head coach, someone that I’d never worked with before. It was a bit like my debut. I was just so excited and so pumped to be back in the mix.”

The reunion proved to be more than a short-term fix. New Zealand Rugby announced in August 2025 that Mo’unga had signed an 18-month deal with NZR, the Crusaders and Canterbury — a move that positions him as a key figure in New Zealand’s build-up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup on home soil in Australia.

Mo’unga acknowledged the noise that had surrounded his potential return while he was still in Japan, but said he had tuned it out. “They were all different narratives about me before I even set foot back in New Zealand,” he said. “If anyone knows me, I’m a team-first person. Obviously I’m a competitor and want to play and want to be in that 10 jersey, but the best thing I want is what’s best for the team.”