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Blues playmaker Jock McKenzie breaks 68-year Auckland sporting record
It’s hard enough to reach the heights of professional status as an athlete in any code, let alone two. But at 22 years of age, former Blues playmaker Jock McKenzie has broken a long-lasting Auckland sporting record.
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McKenzie played three Super Rugby Pacific matches for the Blues in the 2022 season, including one start at flyhalf away to the NSW Waratahs in Sydney.
But McKenzie’s sporting expertise goes well beyond the field. For the first time since 1956, the youngster has become the first person to play both rugby and cricket for Auckland.
While McKenzie laughed off the suggestion that he could follow in Jeff Wilson’s footsteps by playing for both the All Blacks and Black Caps, there’s no denying he’s talented.
Auckland NPC assistant coach Jono Hickey, who played professional cricket and rugby, described the Blues playmaker as a “talented young man.”
“He’s a pretty natural athlete, pretty gifted,” Hickey told 1News.
“He’s got a really nice skillset in rugby, very natural kicker of the ball, good passing, and he’s got a really good read on the game as well.
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“You can tell he’s just one of those youngsters that’s sort of good at everything and very natural.”
Playing at the familiar venue Eden Park, McKenzie took three wickets on debut for the Auckland Aces in their win over the Otago Volts in New Zealand’s T20 Super Smash.
McKenzie took a dot with his first ball before taking the wicket of Ollie White with the following delivery.
“It was special,” McKenzie said, as reported by Newshub. “It’s New Zealand’s ground, you could say.
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“Not many people get to do it, so I was just trying to enjoy it and lap it up.
“ lost a bit of weight,” he added. “I’m probably way too skinny to be playing footy right now.
“You just play way more and I probably lost a bit of it.”
But a decision looms over whether McKenzie has a future in rugby or cricket – should he want to pursue international honours in either code by representing New Zealand.
“I’ll decide very soon.
“I’ve probably left it as late as I can.
“You’ll probably know sooner rather than later what one to do, but for the summer, I’m just playing cricket and focusing on that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Big empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
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