All Blacks first five-eighths Richie Mounga sets himself high standards. Its what got him the nod ahead of a player as good as Beauden Barrett for Saturdays Bledisloe opener at Eden Park.
And, frankly, it is probably what will earn him a second crack in the rematch at the same venue next Saturday night.
Mounga should by rights have been feeling pretty good about himself and his team after he led the All Blacks to a 33-25 victory in the series opener that put one hand on the big trophy which they hope to lock away for a 19th consecutive year.
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Richie Mo’unga had his bag of tricks out in the All Blacks’ latest victory over the Wallabies at Eden Park.
Despite the pressure that inevitably accompanies being selected ahead of Barrett in the black jersey, the 27-year-old Cantab was a picture of cool on Saturday night. He ran for a team-high 82 metres on six carries, with a pair of clean breaks and three defenders beaten.
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He also nabbed one brilliant intercept try, kicked pretty well in testing conditions and sparked what would have been a contender for try of the season (to Sevu Reece early in the second spell) only for it to be rubbed out by a forward transfer in the middle of a 95-metre breakout.
Yes, Mounga should have been feeling pretty good about his nights work. But wasnt.
We did some things really well that were really proud of, but just gave them some soft penalties that allowed them to stay in the game, he reflected afterwards. We need to take away those silly penalties going into next week because they are things we can control. In the first half they could have turned them into points if they werent going into the wind.
Mounga wasnt rapt with the start either. We probably spread the ball a bit too much where we could have been more direct and would have given the forwards confidence and opportunities to get the ball in their hands. But that a good lesson for next week.
Mounga, though, did feel good about the halftime adjustment made by the All Blacks, if not the way they finished, with the Wallabies roaring back from that 33-8 deficit with a quarter of an hour remaining.
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David Havili reaches out for the try against the Wallabies at Eden Park on Saturday night.
We needed to be a bit more direct, and we did that in the second half which allowed us to have a play mentality because we were into the wind. The boys were looking up and owning their space, and it was easy for me hearing the calls to shift it wide because Davie (Havili) and the boys were asking for it.
But the thing that let ourselves down was our discipline, giving them free penalties and stuff like that. Thats something we need to work on because thats pretty shocking.
Havili, meanwhile, said his first Bledisloe start had been all he anticipated.
The physicality was right there, and the tempo was there from the start and towards the end, he said. It was good to experience that, and playing with Anton [Lienert-Brown] was pretty cool. We have a few things to work on during the week but it was a step in the right direction.
Havili did most things well. He notched a well-taken try, and led the backs with 11 tackles, though did miss a trio. He also ran for 43 metres on nine carries. He is pretty sure he will be the better for the experience.
I think Im taking steps in the right direction, he said of his time in the 12 jumper. Ive been helped a lot around moving to 12 by a lot of players around my club side. Im still learning, but just want to be a sponge off the likes of Rieko [Ioane] and Anton in midfield so I can get the best out of myself and do the best for this team.
Im enjoying playing in midfield. I know Ive said in the past 15 was my preferred position, but at the moment Im comfortable there, and looking forward to building more of those connections and seeing where I can get myself to.