Mercurial McKenzie will be marked man
Patrick McKendry
One of Damian McKenzie’s great strengths is his ability to look as though he could dodge a would-be tackler in a phone booth, and those quick feet of his will be uppermost in the minds of the Blues as they run on to Eden Park tonight for the first time this season.
The little Chiefs No 10 will be a marked man, no doubt about that, and Blues coach Tana Umaga didn’t deny his side would seek to put pressure on a player coming to terms with navigating a side again after his move from fullback.
The Crusaders have shown the way for the Blues as Umaga’s men seek their first win against a New Zealand team since the start of the 2016 season.
The Crusaders last weekend raced up and deprived McKenzie of room and space at AMI Stadium. While he sent Sam Cane away with a brilliant sleight of hand in the second half there were also a couple of highprofile errors that led to tries.
McKenzie will be expecting the attention at Eden Park and will no doubt be looking forward to the challenge, and if the Blues don’t get it right there could be space further wide for the 22-year-old to exploit. But it is another big test for McKenzie as he seeks to lead a depleted Chiefs side with 15 players unavailable through injury or illness.
“He is one we need to keep an eye on,” Umaga said. “But it’s about making sure we don’t spend all our time trying to shut him down and they beat us somewhere else.”
One of McKenzie’s errors was in throwing an intercepted pass for a George Bridge try late in the match in Christchurch as the Chiefs chased the game, and coach Colin Cooper confirmed that McKenzie had been told that going for territory would have been a better option.
The challenge for McKenzie will be to find that fine line between attack and defence, pushing a pass or kicking for territory.
It is one which he has the talent to find, but such is the spotlight on the player who will this year be competing with Richie Mo’unga for that All Blacks back-up spot to Barrett that there could be extra pressure to find his rhythm sooner rather than later.
If McKenzie’s mind is cluttered it could be disastrous for the Chiefs. If he gets it right it could be spectacular, but the Blues will be waiting.