'As hard as it is to swallow for fans of Damian McKenzie...'

Damian McKenzie’s heroics late in the All Blacks‘ latest win over Scotland have both earned him resounding praise from across the rugby world, and seemingly further cemented his place on the bench.

The 72-Test playmaker’s introduction off the pine in Edinburgh came in the 44th minute, replacing Caleb Clarke as the winger headed for an HIA, just moments before a yellow card to Ardie Savea and Scotland’s first try of the evening. That scoring effort was backed up by another seven points five minutes later, then a Scotland penalty and another Kiwi yellow card, this time to Wallace Sititi.

The third-quarter splurge followed a strong opening half from New Zealand and left the scores even at 17 apiece, but Scotland’s momentum was cut short before the hosts could edge ahead of the visitors, largely thanks to the efforts of McKenzie.

A spectacular try in the 73rd minute has since gone viral for its acrobatics, with the supersub fending off and then throwing Lions fullback Blair Kinghorn to the turf, before twirling away from the touch line and placing the ball down while landing on his back.

“There are very few people in the world who score that try, and the fact that DMac is one of the smallest men going in international rugby makes it even more special,” Kiwi pundit and commentator Scotty Stevenson reacted on Sport Nation.

“It’s all heart, that. It’s all heart and determination. And a body that shouldn’t bend that way, but it does. Battered and bloodied, DMac still manages to do that.

“And yes, I know you look at the performance from DMac in that game, and for two straight weeks now, I think he’s had some clutch moments in Test matches off the bench. But, to me, the argument is not whether that means he should start a game. The argument, to me, is that they’ve got his role spot on.

“As hard as it is to swallow for fans of Damian McKenzie, and possibly for the player himself, that finishing role in Test matches that have come down to the grind, where you’ve lost momentum, that is where the value lies for someone like Damian McKenzie.

“I’m not saying that the door is shut on a starting spot for him, but what happens if he’s not in that role in that Test? A 50/22, a try to seal the deal; big moments. Big, big moments.”

Stevenson’s co-host, former All Blacks fullback Israel Dagg, picked up on the selection topic and agreed with the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ sentiment that Stevenson had shared.

“No doubt he wants to start, but we know just how important it is for Damian to come on and shut out a game,” Dagg said. “That try goes against physics; it goes against everything…

“This will show others who miss out on a starting position just how impactful you can be on a game. How influential and how important you are for this team, knowing that the final quarter, that final 20 minutes can be the defining moment.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

1

Draws

1

Wins

3

Average Points scored

22

22

First try wins

60%

Home team wins

60%

The 2011 Rugby World Cup winner went on to share his thoughts on the game as a whole, tipping his hat to Scotland for their stoic comeback.

“The game itself, there was a lot going on in that game. There was a lot. I was thinking, ‘Oh my goodness.’ Up 17-nil at halftime, okay, usually the All Blacks will turn the dial up and put them away, but I tip my hat to Scotland.

“You come out of halftime, the All Blacks drop the ball from the kickoff. Not often do you see a maul from the All Blacks going backwards, and they score a nice rolling maul try. I thought ‘Jason Ryan will be livid.’ A ‘never again’ moment.

“So, I give my respect to Scotland, they did it with a 10 who was dealing with a whole lot of injury; how much tape does Finn Russell need on a knee? But you can see the class with Finn Russell, oh my goodness. Some of those passes, some of the attack was causing a lot of disruption for the All Blacks.

“In saying that, I want to focus on the ABs; I thought their attack, we’ve been asking for a nice game from an attacking point of view, and I thought the attack was really good. They took a lot of depth on the ball, but they had slow feet, and the Scottish team had to come up and get them.

“What I said after the Ireland game in Chicago was that we were probably just a little bit too flat, so we were taking away our time and opportunity to get around and straighten up. I thought our attack was really good for 90 per cent of that game.”