All Blacks great concerned Scott Robertson has put ‘stake in the ground with Damian McKenzie’ after attacking struggles
All Blacks playmakers Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett in 2024.
Justin Marshall believes that keeping Damian McKenzie at fly-half could be harming the All Blacks’ attack.
The Chiefs star took over at 10 after Richie Mo’unga’s departure, who signed a long-term deal in Asia following the conclusion of the Rugby World Cup.
McKenzie has been the form playmaker in Super Rugby over the past couple of years and the new All Blacks boss has very much backed the pivot in 2024.
He started all seven of their previous games and has also been named in the line-up to take on the Wallabies in Bledisloe I.
New Zealand do have other options, such as Beauden Barrett, who Marshall would like to see get an opportunity in the 10 jersey.
McKenzie or Barrett?
Although the former scrum-half rates McKenzie highly, the 51-year-old has queried whether Barrett is a better fit for this team.
“The word that came out of his (Robertson’s) mouth, which was quite an interesting one, was ‘persevere’. Now that means that Scott Robertson in particular has put a stake in the ground with Damian McKenzie and he’s quite prepared to keep rolling him out there until he can get the best out of him,” he told The Platform.
“When I’m talking about putting Beauden Barrett at 10, I’m talking about changing the picture to what the defence sees.
“All of a sudden you’ve got a guy that plays straighter. He plays at times a little bit more confrontational in terms of taking on defenders, he’s not as lateral in attack as Damian McKenzie.
“That means the centres function differently, the outside backs function differently because, when a player who plays much straighter to the line is pulling the trigger, then their running lines change.
“What we’re not prepared to do at this stage is test that and see whether or not other players can actually play better or get into the game better with a different guy pulling the trigger.”
Marshall cannot see Robertson changing tack now but he has urged the All Blacks boss to reconsider looking ahead to their end-of-year tour.
‘Why are we not prepared to change it up’
“You can’t read it any other way can you? He’s staying very consistent with that particular selection,” he said.
“I’m not saying Damian McKenzie is playing crap rugby by any means, and it’s not a criticism of him personally.
“We are struggling against really fast blitz defences and that’s going to happen in the UK. Why are we not prepared to change it up it a little bit?
“It looks like Scott Robertson does not want to do that, he’s very adamant that if worst-case scenario, Damian McKenzie gets a bad injury, he’s quite comfortable that without any game time at all, Beauden Barrett can slot in there and do the job.
“That’s the pressure Beauden has to wear and both of them are obviously confident he can do that.”
