When the replacement All Blacks first five stood over the ball with two minutes left in a Bledisloe Cup test tied at 20-20, considering a penalty goal attempt from 40m out, he was filled with inner calm.
"It’s what you dream of as a young kid kicking goals in the back yard and at the park," Mo’unga said.
"I had no fear of any outcome when I had the ball in my hand.
"It’s no different from any other kick for me. I’m just clear and focused on where I want to hit the ball."
Mo’unga revealed he was a fan of using positive visualisation before a game.
He had used the warm-up time at Forsyth Barr Stadium to imagine how he might cope with the classic situation of needing to kick a late goal to win the game.
"I was walking the field before the game and I went through four kicks.
"I didn’t actually kick a ball. I didn’t have a physical ball with me.
"One of those four kicks was a kick in my head to win the game.
"I grabbed the ball and I was pretty at peace with where I was. I was ready for that moment. In my head, I was pretty confident I was in the right place."
Mo’unga had to wait for his opportunity off the bench and said he had the basic aim of playing with directness, accuracy and discipline.
That they were able to respond so impressively suggested things were tracking nicely ahead of the World Cup, Mo’unga said.
"We’re in a really good place. Even if we had lost this game, I’d still be saying the same thing.
"I’m really happy with little changes we’ve made as a team, not just the performance on Saturday but what I’ve seen Monday to Friday — what our actions are like, and our daily habits, and our willingness to be better every day.
"I think the team culture builds that, and obviously with a big tournament coming up, people are having to dig deep and put their hands up."
The All Blacks misfired badly in 2022 and that left the team doing some serious soul-searching, Mo’unga said.
"Through that adversity, we were able to truly find out who we were and what we needed to work on, so we’re really grateful for that and sort of inspired by where we want to get to."
It was a similar situation on Saturday when the All Blacks made a dreadful start, conceding two tries to the Wallabies through headless-chicken defence in the first eight minutes.
The capacity crowd of 28,265 fell silent as the All Blacks appeared to fall asleep, while the Wallabies looked clinical and full of spark.
Few summed up the home team’s travails more than Damian McKenzie.
He will be on the plane to France but possibly the worst half of his professional career featured a bunch of errors, aimless kicking and a reminder that Mo’unga is the leading first five in the country by some distance.
The Wallabies got an immense shift out of No 8 Rob Valetini, while Andrew Kellaway looked potent at fullback and new captain Tate McDermott was excellent behind the scrum.
The All Blacks thought they were on the verge of drawing level when Leicester Fainga’anuku barrelled over, but replays showed he had lost control of the ball.
It was another sign that momentum had turned, and Mo’unga — who replaced McKenzie just nine minutes into the second half — closed the gap with a penalty.
The Wallabies were looking a bit wobbly by this stage, having perhaps used up most of their luck or energy in the first half, and there was a sense the game was there for the All Blacks, now driven by the influential figure of Sam Whitelock, to take.
That feeling only grew when another newcomer, blindside flanker Samipeni Finau, also scored on debut to give the All Blacks the lead for the first time in the game.
Quade Cooper — a calm figure while boos rained down on him — slotted a 45m penalty to bring the scores level again.
It was now very much try-to-earn-a-penalty time, and when the opportunity arrived, Mo’unga took it.
Bledisloe Cup
The scores
All Blacks 23
Shaun Stevenson, Samipeni Finau tries; Damian McKenzie con, pen, Richie Mo’unga con, 2 pen
Wallabies 20
Marika Koroibete, Tom Hooper tries; Carter Gordon 2 con, pen, Quade Cooper pen
Halftime: Wallabies 17-3.
