All Blacks great claims fly-half role ‘starting to make sense’ for Damian McKenzie despite Scott Robertson’s ruthless decision
All Blacks fly-half Damian McKenzie in action against Ireland, and former scrum-half Justin Marshall.
All Blacks legend Justin Marshall believes that Damian McKenzie is beginning to find his feet at fly-half after impressing against Ireland last Friday.
The 29-year-old began the year as first choice but was then dropped after some mixed displays in the mid-year series and Rugby Championship.
Beauden Barrett took over, starting against the Wallabies and England, but a head injury suffered at Twickenham once again opened the door for McKenzie.
This time the Chiefs star grasped it with both hands, guiding New Zealand to a 23-13 triumph over Andy Farrell’s men at the Aviva Stadium.
Kicking accuracy
He kicked 18 points and kept the All Blacks on the front foot as the tourists earned their fifth successive win and a third on their northern hemisphere tour.
Despite that performance in Dublin, McKenzie has moved back to the bench for the France match, which is a tough call on the playmaker, but Marshall insists that it is beginning to come together for him.
“I don’t doubt the skills and the ability that he has. He can do things on a rugby field like no other player in the world, I don’t think anybody could argue,” Marshall told DSPN with Martin Devlin.
“It’s the things that he does that are equally frustrating, when they are somebody that has to be a general. You can’t always be the entertainer and play the razzle-dazzle.
“The more time he gets in the shirt, the more he starts to look like [he’s making the right decisions]. He knows the skill set he’s got but he knows when to pull the trigger on that.
“The other component of the game is, ‘yes I see something but now it’s better for me to distribute or to play territory,’ and not take more of a gamble.
“It’s starting to look like that flow is making sense to him, and that only comes with time. He built into that game really well.”
Marshall has also been impressed by McKenzie’s resilience having withstood a barrage of criticism for his displays, as well as the pressure the All Blacks’ opponents have attempted to put him under.
Farrell’s side no doubt looked to target the fly-half and prey on his struggles from previous matches, but the playmaker never took a backwards step.
‘Typical Damian McKenzie’
“He took some shots. A couple of times he’s gone hard at the line, he’s made good decisions, but he’s been smacked afterwards,” Marshall said.
“Typical Damian McKenzie, he dusts himself off, picks himself back up and gets himself back into position.
“They (Ireland) tried to rattle him and they did that unsuccessfully because he stayed composed. The maturity and the way that he controlled the game… was outstanding in that second half.
“It’s incredibly encouraging the way that he is trending, along with side.
“It’s not a coincidence that when you get those generals, in particular the guy in that shirt, playing well, the teams tends to trend in the right direction as well.”
