All Blacks legend urges Scott Robertson to pick Damian McKenzie and create ‘new way’ of playing
Damian McKenzie in action for the All Blacks during the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
All Blacks great Sir John Kirwan believes that Scott Robertson could revolutionise the game by building the team around Damian McKenzie.
The Chiefs fly-half has once again been in stunning form in 2024, following his impressive return to New Zealand last year.
McKenzie was arguably the best playmaker in 2023 and was named in the All Blacks squad for the Rugby World Cup, but he was only considered a bench option for the big games.
The favourite in 2024
Richie Mo’unga took the number 10 role while Beauden Barrett was at full-back but, with both of those players currently in Japan, the path is clear for the 28-year-old to take the pivot position.
Barrett will return in time for the Test season but the Chiefs star is very much the favourite for the fly-half role ahead of the July series.
He is one of the best attacking players in the game, although there is perhaps more of a doubt over his game control at the highest level.
Ex-New Zealand back Mils Muliaina therefore posed the question on The Breakdown: “Do you build a game around how Damian McKenzie plays as opposed to the traditionalists?” before he then added: “It’s not an issue, I think it’s a good problem that ‘Razor’ Robertson’s going to have.
“There’s no doubt that when he plays for the Chiefs and even last year while playing at the Rugby World Cup, his style is effective.”
Kirwan then chimed in and was clear in where he stood over McKenzie’s talents and what he could do for the All Blacks going forward.
“Can I answer that? That’s 300 per cent yes. Do we want to lead the game and change the game or do we want to play traditionally?
“We’ve always been the innovators and I think that the way that Damian plays is a new way on the attack.
“We’re so defence-orientated. If you had wand and went back, I would have loved to have seen him in the World Cup final a little earlier. I just think he brings this thing that defences worry about.
“When you’ve got someone like Damian, defences slow up and that’s what you want. I think Razor will embrace it and go, ‘well, let’s just build someone around him’.”
Changing the game
Kirwan also believes that McKenzie is different to the other top fly-halves in the sport and has compared him to the type of playmakers you tend to see in the 13-a-side code.
“I think Damian McKenzie is changing the way that our first fives play. I’ve always said it, he plays like a rugby league stand-off. There’s a lot more lateral pass to his game,” the All Blacks legend added.
“When you start building an attack around that and you put someone more traditional on, it does throw you out of sync.
“There’s a lot of vision involved when Damian is playing because you’ve got to be alive around him to know what to do.”
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