Damian McKenzie: ‘Ferrari’ Will Jordan being brought ‘out of the garage at the right time’
All Blacks back Will Jordan and playmaker Damian McKenzie.
Damian McKenzie is excited about what Will Jordan can offer back in an All Blacks jersey after recovering from injury.
The versatile back showed no ill-effects of the shoulder surgery which has kept him out since last year’s Rugby World Cup when he took to the field in a pre-season friendly.
Jordan played 60 minutes and scored a try in Tasman Mako’s 36-7 triumph over Southland at the weekend.
That has put him in contention to start for the All Blacks in their Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in Wellington on Saturday.
Big decision for Razor
It would be a bold call from Scott Robertson, given that the flyer has not played a high level match since the 2023 World Cup final, but the head coach knows him well from his time at the Crusaders.
Robertson will have been watching him closely in training and, according to McKenzie, the 26-year-old is going well.
“He’s looking great, Will. He’s like the Ferrari, bringing him out of the garage at the right time,” the fly-half said.
“He’s ready to go and it’s great to see him play some NPC [pre-season] for Tasman at the weekend. It’s been a long-time coming since the World Cup so we’re excited to have him back.”
Those sentiments were echoed by centre Jordie Barrett, who hopes that Jordan can repeat his heroics from the World Cup semi-final against Argentina, where he scored a hat-trick.
“More of that would be great,” Barrett said. “It was good to see Will back in the squad with a smile on his face.
“He got a few minutes with the Tasman Mako on the weekend and he’s a great player. His try-scoring record speaks for itself and he’ll be looking forward to his inclusion in the squad, maybe. He’s been training really well.”
Sam Cane
Another player to return to the squad from injury is former captain Sam Cane, who is playing his final season of Test rugby.
Cane is departing New Zealand at the end of the campaign to take up a lucrative contract in Japan. As a result, Robertson could justifiably look elsewhere and build for the future, but McKenzie believes that his former Chiefs team-mate brings so much to the squad.
“Sammy’s obviously had a massive career in New Zealand with the All Blacks. He’ll want to go out on a high note,” he said.
“Just to have his experience and his leadership around the group, you can’t put a price on that. He’s been great to have back in the squad, and just a good man to have around bouncing ideas off, and bouncing ideas off as a leader as well.”
