New All Blacks assistant coach Brad Mooar is looking forward to getting back home and involved in New Zealand rugby again, but he admits to being no clearer on who will play first five-eighths when the All Blacks return to action.
Whether the experiment of having the two playmakers option of Richie Mo'unga at first five-eighths and Beauden Barrett at fullback would be continued is one of the more intriguing decisions awaited from the new coaching group.
But Mooar was giving nothing away about his thoughts on the issue when he talked with The Rugby Paper.
"For starters, they're two outstanding players and top, top men who are driven to keep on improving," he said.
"Beauden's been setting records in training with the Blues recently and Richie's someone I've worked with before at the Crusaders who will want to hold on to the No.10 spot, so they'll both be looking to keep on improving and pushing each other forward.
"Whether they're both on the field at the same time or one's coming off the bench, that will be for the boss and the coaching team to work out, but I'll just chip away in helping Beauden and Richie to prepare and challenge them. They're both great guys to have around and I'm sure we'll bring out the best," he said.
Mooar, who will have to go through the two weeks of quarantine in Auckland for all who fly into New Zealand under the Covid-19 pandemic rules, is looking forward to getting to work with rugby starting soon.
"It'll be really exciting to get back there because it sounds like society is getting back into action again," he said.
"Businesses are up and running and Super Rugby Aotearoa is ready to kick-off on June 13 with all five of our teams keen to get going, so there'll be a lot of good footy to watch and I'm sure it will be very well received worldwide."
Finding a way, at Test level, for sides to be able to back up in consecutive weeks, such as is required during the playoff phases of a World Cup, would be something that would occupy the brains trust in the wake of the World Cup in Japan where New Zealand finished third.
Mooar said the intensity of play had provided one of the points of interest in the Japan tournament.
"To get up every week is now becoming one of the biggest things in the game because we saw the All Blacks focused and dominant against Ireland but they just couldn't get back up to that level against a really strong England side the following week.
"In turn, England couldn't get back up against South Africa in the final, so I thought that was fascinating and there are some real lessons to be taken from that in terms of emotional recovery in massive games a week apart.
"You look back at previous competitions and there are other examples of that as well," he said.
Mooar was confident that after the World Cup setback, the All Blacks would bounce back again with the depth available being borne out again.
"There's some really exciting talent to work with and those players will continue to grow, which in turn will help me grow as a coach," he said.
Mooar said Foster and the other coaches had open minds about how they were playing the game and what would best suit the All Blacks in the future. He said he was looking forward to working with Foster and fellow assistants John Plumtree, Greg Feek and Scott McLeod.
"Instead of quick conversations post-match, it'll be good to work closely with those guys and we've already started that process. We'll see a good run of New Zealand derby games now, leading into what we hope will be some tasty internationals at the end of the year," he said.
Mooar said he would have great memories from his brief stint in Wales with the Scarlets, having only half a season in the role due to the coronavirus epidemic, after taking up the role from Wayne Pivac, who has the Wales coaching role now.
When the call came to return home to work with the All Blacks, he said it hadn't been easy but in the end, it was the chance to work with the All Blacks and coach Ian Foster that swayed his choice.
Some fine players coming through the system for the Scarlets but he was happy that fellow New Zealander Glenn Delaney would carry on the development in his wake.