The All Blacks have confirmed that flyhalf Richie Mo’unga will be heading to South Africa to replace the injured Billy Proctor.
The news will come as a welcome relief to many All Black fans who wanted Mo’unga on the tour from the beginning, but he was prevented because of the policy of not selecting players who play abroad.
Mo’unga has since returned to New Zealand and has played for Canterbury in the NPC, making him eligible for the tour.
The team said they had made the decision in a statement
“All Blacks midfielder, Billy Proctor, will return home to New Zealand today after fracturing his shoulder blade in the game against the Stormers,” the statement read.
“The All Blacks selectors have decided to bring in Richie Mo'unga as a replacement in the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry squad.
"We really feel for Billy. He has had a great season so this is frustrating for him. It is the harsh reality of our game. We wish him all the best with his recovery and hope to see him fit and well in time for the end of year tour selection," Head Coach Dave Rennie said.
"Richie is the obvious choice as a replacement. His job now is to get in and learn our systems, get his head around the details and earn the right to play."
Mo'unga will arrive in Johannesburg on Friday.
Before leaving for South Africa, Mo’unga told New Zealand website Stuff that Rennie had called him earlier and asked him to join the team. He was named in Canterbury’s side for this weekend’s Ranfurly Shield defence against Bay of Plenty on Saturday.
“To be honest, I hadn't put too much thought into it, I've had a lot going on, we just played for the shield on Sunday and we had a tough game this weekend,” Mo’unga said when asked if he expected to be called in as an injury replacement.
“I knew there were always conversations and I would have been close, but I just had my head down and was getting into some work.”
“There's a lot to it, and to be honest, my mind has thought of every possible scenario around what could happen over the next couple months,”