DMac creates ABs dilemma
Out of the chaos comes clarity. Out of the gutwrenching heartbreak emerges a cold-hard reality.
With the news yesterday that Chiefs fullback Damian McKenzie was out for the rest of the season, including the upcoming World Cup in Japan, with a ruptured ACL suffered early in the second half of their 33-29 Super Rugby victory over the Blues in Hamilton on Saturday night, the initial reaction was twofold.
First, it’s crushing for an effervescent young man who plays the game of rugby as it should be – with a spring in his jaunty step and a smile on his face. He was in the form of his life this season, too, playing the position he feels most comfortable in and confirming what we’ve all known in this country for some time: that he is a very special player capable of changing a match in a flash of his brilliance.
These professional athletes spend four years building to the defining event of their careers, and to have it snatched from them in this manner is unimaginably sad. To think that the World Cup won’t be illuminated by his cheeky smile, dazzling feet and uncanny ability to create something from nothing is equally distressing.
Second, it’s also a major blow to the All Blacks’ quest for a third straight Webb Ellis Cup. You don’t remove players of McKenzie’s calibre from your squad and not feel the pinch a little. New Zealand rugby has depth like the Pacific Ocean, but even it has a limit.
McKenzie, after all, was Steve Hansen’s incumbent fullback, starting at No 15 for the last four meaningful tests of 2018. He was also third-string No 10, providing valuable cover (read insurance) in behind the two best playmakers in the country in
Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga.
It might even be at first fiveeighth that his absence is felt more keenly, even though he was higher on the pecking order at No 15. All of a sudden the cupboard is looking a little bare at 10, and this creates an immediate issue for a coach who likes to keep his options covered.
The All Blacks are now one injury to Barrett or Mo’unaga away from turning to Otere Black as their next No 10 off the rank. Yes, Otere Black. Or Brett Cameron. Whatever way you flip it, there is now a precipitous dropoff behind Barrett and Mo’unga.
This is something that Hansen now has to address. With McKenzie floating between 10 and 15 he had a luxury. A valuable piece in his puzzle. A Mr Fixit. Now, in his absence, he has a potential headache.
Who is his next 10? And when does the process of upskilling him take place? Neither Barrett nor Mo’unga are unbreakable. Plan B and C must be whiteboarded.
Maybe at fullback the opposite occurs. Maybe there is clarity now where before there was an element of confusion.
As mentioned, McKenzie was Hansen’s first-choice fullback to finish the test year in 2018.
Did that mean he was rated above Ben Smith? Not at all.
But by moving Smith to the right wing, Hansen found a compromise he was prepared to live with. What’s better than one world-class No 15 in your back three? Why two, of course.
Except there’s a school of thought that questioned that move. First, on the basis that Smith’s best position is clearly fullback: it’s where he makes the most impact, where he feels most comfortable, and where he wields the most influence. As an outstanding communicator, organiser and decision-maker, it’s the ideal spot for him to roam from.
Also, there had to be doubts about McKenzie’s size limitations as a fullback at the very highest level. England and Ireland both tested the All Blacks in the air at the back end of 2018, as did the Springboks. They sensed a weakness that the diminutive DMac’s commitment and fearlessness could not overcome.
Now that option, that temptation, has been removed, hopefully Hansen reverts to Plan A and leaves the world’s best fullback not ostracised for his non-inclusive beliefs to operate where he is most effective.
The depth is better in the back three, too. McKenzie is a heck of a fullback, but so is Smith. And more of a physical presence in the air. Jordie Barrett covers it pretty decently too, and others such as George Bridge, David Havili, Melani Nanai and Solomon Alaimalo will come into consideration.
One thing seems certain: the road to the World Cup just got a little trickier for the All Blacks.