McKenzie’s third star turn nails thrilling win
DAMIAN McKenzie has done it again.
For a third Super Rugby Aotearoa match in succession, the star Chiefs playmaker has mustered the crucial late play for his side to claim a thrilling win.
After a last-gasp try against the Blues, a golden-point penalty against the Highlanders, this time it was the Crusaders on the receiving end, as McKenzie nailed a penalty with three minutes to play for his team to close out a nailbiting 26-25 victory in Hamilton.
The 18,500 at FMG Stadium Waikato were left on the edge of their seats, as a late Crusaders attack threatened to steal it, before lock Naitoa Ah Kuoi came up with the huge penaltyrelieving play at the ruck.
The visitors, out of pure desperation, challenged the call, but there was no evidence the young lock’s hands were past the ball, and the hosts were able to see out the final moments and celebrate a fourth victory on the trot which has them up to second on the table.
The Crusaders came to town with a couple of All Blacks injured and opted to rest some others in their pack, and in the end Mitchell Drummond’s 100th match for the franchise ended in disappointment, despite the visitors outscoring the hosts three tries to two.
They had a handy buffer to build from, but Richie Mo’unga’s missed conversion from near in front in the end turned very costly, and instead it was his opposite, McKenzie – starting in the Chiefs’ No 10 jersey for the first time since the heavy defeat to the Crusaders in March 2019 – who came up trumps.
Needing to be the first ones to strike in the second stanza, the Chiefs looked like they’d butchered their golden chance when Alex Nankivell ran into Brad Weber in an accidental offside after a promising buildup.
But just minutes later Nankivell made good when his
strong burst through the line set the hosts going again, and while the backs screamed for ball out wide on a huge overlap, the forwards eventually did their thing, Lachlan Boshier the beneficiary, burrowing over in the 47th minute.
It took the Crusaders all of five minutes to hit back, though, as All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor came on and immediately rumbled over on the back of a lineout drive to extend his lead at the top of the tryscoring ladder.
Mo’unga hit the posts from near in front, leaving the margin at six, and what do you know, the Chiefs snapped up that invitation smartly, McKenzie snappily feeding Lienert-Brown, who sent a lovely long ball for
Jonah Lowe to produce a fine finish in the right corner on the hour-mark.
McKenzie then kicked a pressure conversion to put them in front, however their lead lasted all of three minutes, when Mo’unga made up for his earlier blunder by popping a penalty over to make it 25-23 and make it look like the Crusaders’ night.
They had taken all of five minutes to stamp their mark, with Leicester Fainga’anuku proving a more than capable fillin for Jack Goodhue in midfield, barging over from close range to open the scoring.
The hosts worked their way back into the contest well, though, capitalising on a rising
Crusaders penalty count – 6-1 against them at one point – to build in threes off the boot of McKenzie.
He landed three from in front as the visitors at times looked frantic deep in their own half.
However, in the blink of an eye, the Crusaders went from 9-7 down to 17-9 up, as Mo’unga slotted a gift from the tee, then put his boots to work on the dancefloor, sparking an attack and feeding Scott Barrett, who sent Will Jordan racing away on the half hour.