The All Blacks went full 'McKenzie' in the third test
There were four new debutants and a host of new starters but the All Blacks machine kept rolling last night, comprehensively signing off a 3-nil series victory over France with a 49-14 win in the final test.
The game followed a similar script to the first test, with French spirit keeping them in the match for a half or so before they wore down and became fodder. On the fast indoor pitch in Dunedin the All Blacks went to width frequently and played an expansive game, in the process unleashed the full potential of dynamo Damian McKenzie in his first start at first five-eighth.
Again the individual brilliance was on show intertwined with moments of underwhelming play. One minute he’s kicking out on the full with no pressure and the next deftly chipping the line with the left foot or ripping a pass to an unmarked runner. It seems that errors fuel McKenzie into a high-octane state, where he starts shakey before ripping apart all before him in an explosive frenzy. The lows are low and highs are sky high.
There might not be a more enigmatic player in world rugby. How do you filter out the ‘minus’ plays and keep the brilliant? This is the puzzle the All Blacks coaches want to solve, as the answer may uncover the world’s next best player – that’s how influential he can be.
In a 15-minute period in second half he scored his second try and set up two more, at a crucial time in the game to pull the All Blacks away. They persisted with similar patterns the Chiefs have used with McKenzie at 10 this year to give the bite-sized first five his favoured plays.
The backdoor release freed McKenzie from the second level all night where he attacked a pensive, slowing defensive line. The All Blacks went heavy on this pod release play to give McKenzie the ball as much as possible coming from depth and allow more width in the game in general.
Of the 15 times McKenzie lined up behind the first pod, they fed him nine times out the back, 60% of the time. That’s a huge amount considering forwards often keep it simple, showing how much the All Blacks wanted to stretch this French side laterally.
In the 53rd minute, the play paid off when he knifed through a yawning gap between two props and ran circles around winger Gael Fickou to score untouched. When a defender bites hard on the tip runner, McKenzie is given an invitation to take on the line, which he has no hesitation in doing.
One of the change-ups they run is switching McKenzie with Ben Smith so he can attack wider as a fullback. They tried this twice in the match and surprisingly it led to one intercept and one dropped intercept. Despite many holding the opinion that his best position is still fullback, his worst plays of the night came from that role.
His touches at first receiver in flatter situations started to show signs of confidence, with no qualms about throwing rocket cutouts, which he shelved last week. Despite those two dicey intercept chances, he hit the money on a beautiful try assist to Rieko Ioane, throwing a face ball past Jordie Barrett. His line running was finally on the same page with Aaron Smith, scoring off the scrum despite a dubious call by the referee. This was the same play that McKenzie tried to cut under Smith on last week, causing a turnover on the communication blunder.
The All Blacks have implemented some new exit strategies around McKenzie, opting for him to kick directly off the base of the scrum instead of using a two-phase setup. Despite his diminutive stature, the purchase he gets on his kick is quite remarkable. He can thump it a good 55-60 metres, often finding a decent angle when clearing to the line.
He hit seven from seven off the tee in a faultless display of goal kicking, but it was a couple of unforced errors from kicking out-of-hand that had doubters shaking heads early. His emphatic rebound only proved that he is erratic, with such large swings in his game.
The risk/reward equation with McKenzie most definitely ended with handsome reward last night.
Comments on RugbyPass
“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
1 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
27 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
27 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
27 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
27 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
27 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
27 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
27 Go to commentsSurprising how standing down or benching a player can do wonders for their motivation. Several players this week in that category.
2 Go to commentsHaha lads lads lads, that’s how you have a holiday In Majorca
4 Go to commentshit on Lynagh was defo late and card-worthy. The other 2 are bang on OK. Hurts you at Test level if youre timing is off and the nostrils are flared. Jerry C knew when to lean in on one, Finau just needs to keep his discipline and head straight.
7 Go to commentsSlade was exceptional against Gloucester. Not only was he doing the classic Slade stuff of running amazing lines and timing passes to perfection to put his wingers into space, he was kicking goals, flying off the line smashing people and crashing into rucks like a flanker… his hair even looked on point. 😍
1 Go to commentsThat’s really sad, hope everyone involved is ok. At least he had pants on.
4 Go to commentsTo be fair it was nowhere bear the Leinster first team (for which, btw, Leinster copped nothing like the outrage that Jake White did for sending a rotated team to the UK). But it’s fun to watch the Stormers doing their thing. They are attracting big, diverse crowds of young fans, and deservedly so. Great to see.
1 Go to commentsIt might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
7 Go to comments