All Blacks first-five Richie Mo’unga says a drop goal was "definitely" on his mind yesterday as New Zealand looked to snatch victory in the dying moments of the Bledisloe Cup Test against Australia.
With the game dragging on to the 87 th minute, the All Blacks have drawn criticism for not taking a drop goal opportunity, instead opting to push on for a try as the scores sat at 16 a-piece. No try came and the match ended in a draw.
Despite being in prime position for a drop-goal attempt, Mo’unga said the All Blacks’ forward momentum was what ultimately lead to the decision to vie for a try.
“There was a couple of times I dropped into the pocket, but momentum had us and we looked likely to score, so drop kick wasn’t in the question because we were going forward,” Mo’unga said.
“Had Jordie had got the pass, or we had got the pass away, we wouldn’t really be talking about drop kicks, but it definitely was on my mind, but I felt like we were going forward and could’ve scored.”
Today, All Blacks coach Ian Foster suggested that his side should have tried to slow the game down as the All Blacks ventured into the Wallabies half.
“In hindsight the right decision would’ve been to slow that down a little bit, because we were right under the goal posts, half a metre out and we had a chance to regroup, get more forwards on their feet and then make the decision,” Foster said.
“I would have been quite happy with a ball in hand approach, with the 10 sitting in behind and 10 or 15 whoever wanted it, and if they saw the moment then take it,” he added.
When asked about Foster’s comments, Mo’unga agreed saying that a better job could have been done at bringing the game under control.
“Yeah it is tough because we know what’s ahead, we know we’re trying to score, we know were playing the 87 th minute so we want to do things with pace but yeah we realise they’re ones the pressure, they’re the ones under their sticks so as a game driver we can definitely do that a lot better,” he said.
Mo’unga said that the decision on field was to push ahead however, he also admitted he could’ve called louder for the ball.
“I was in position to take one, but the call was to just pick through the middle,” Mo’unga said.
“Could I have had a better voice? Maybe.”
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