All Blacks: Damian McKenzie sets out long-term objective to ‘drive’ New Zealand from one position

All Blacks fly-half Damian McKenzie.
All Blacks fly-half Damian McKenzie is happy with his performances during the team’s first three Tests of the year and is determined to hold onto his position.
McKenzie wore the number 10 jersey in the two-Test series against England and the clash with Fiji in San Diego earlier this month and delivered solid performances on each occasion.
New All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson rewarded him with a starting spot after he impressed as the Chiefs’ main playmaker during their run to the Super Rugby Pacific final which they lost to the Blues.
McKenzie is also comfortable at full-back and has played most of his matches for the All Blacks in the number 15 jersey.
However, Will Jordan is back from injury and included in the All Blacks’ 36-man Rugby Championship squad and there’s a belief in New Zealand that Robertson will name the Crusaders star at full-back with Beauden Barrett, who did duty in that position against England and Fiji, set to compete with McKenzie for the fly-half spot.
Despite that, McKenzie is determined to hold on to the number 10 jersey for the upcoming Rugby Championship campaign and New Zealand’s end-of-year tour later in 2024.
Keen to hold onto fly-half berth
“Yeah, for sure. It’s obviously some big Tests coming up,” he told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “Obviously I was fortunate enough to start at 10 for the first three Tests, so hopefully that’s something I want to be able to drive throughout the rest of the campaign, throughout the rest of the year.
“We’ve got some tough Tests against Argentina, and then Australia, and then no more hostile place to play than over in South Africa against them.
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“So that’ll be a great challenge as a team, and obviously you walk into an end-of-year tour, which is some pretty fierce match-ups there. So yeah, I’ve just been excited for the start of the season so far, and hopefully that can continue.”
The 29-year-old also gave an insight into how it’s been under the mentorship of Robertson and the rest of his coaching staff.
“With the new coaches coming in, and a few new players, everyone’s sort of just getting used to how everyone’s playing,” he said.
“Throughout the three games we had, it’s sort of, we gelled pretty well and I guess making sure that the style of rugby we’re playing sort of suits both the backs and forwards.
“We try and like to shift the ball a bit and I guess the later we get into the year, nights are a little bit colder, the ball’s a little bit wetter, so I guess just finding that balance between playing that up-tempo rugby and then when we need to slow things down.”
50 up for the All Blacks
The clash against Fiji in San Diego was a momentous occasion for McKenzie as it meant he made his 50th Test appearance for his country – something which he enjoyed.
“Yeah, it was good,” he added. “It’s sort of, you know, when you play your first Test you’re pretty stoked and then to be able to hit 50 is pretty awesome.
“It’s sort of been over a few years now and to be able to get a run in the last few weeks at 10 has been great, so yeah, extra special to play 50.”
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