Fit and firing Damian McKenzie looms as the pivotal man in Super Rugby Aotearoa opener
There is nothing quite like game week for Chiefs fullback Damian McKenzie as he reflects on putting in the hard yards during COVID-19 lockdown to ensure match readiness for Super Rugby Aotearoa.
If their recent history against the Highlanders is any indication, the Chiefs should expect themselves to be involved in something of a humdinger when Super Rugby Aotearoa finally kicks off on Saturday.
For McKenzie, someone who is no stranger to performing under the spotlight, Saturday’s clash also provides the first real stress test of his intense fitness efforts during the lockdown period.
The same can be said for every athlete involved in this unique, New Zealand-only comp. But for the Chiefs, McKenzie is not just any athlete, he’s an integral part of how one of the most exciting backlines in Super Rugby operates.
Furthermore, the man holds himself to a standard representing such.
Talking to RugbyPass, McKenzie reflected on putting in the hard yards during lockdown in a bid to keep himself fit with a goal of maintaining the same level of performance which has seen him frequently play for the full 80-minutes in Super Rugby.
“I wanted to maintain the same level of fitness and strength otherwise you have to play catchup when you come back”, McKenzie said, “Right now I’m in pretty good nick but match fitness is a different thing so it will be pretty intense on Saturday night”.
During the lockdown, it was all about the runs down the road, time on the watt bike and working hard in the homebuilt gym for McKenzie. Alongside his good mate Anton Lienert-Brown, the two motivated each other to keep at it while fighting the boredom of being confined to the house.
It’s all a showing that isn’t unfamiliar from McKenzie, his passion and commitment to the craft is matched by few.
On any given training day, McKenzie is typically one of the first to arrive and last to leave. Always staying back behind for an extra kick at goal or to practise his role in a specific set play, it’s clear that the finer details of every aspect in his control take the highest level of importance for McKenzie and it has been a great marker of his success since bursting onto the professional scene six years ago.
Since coming back into camp in mid-May, McKenzie impressed with a personal best on the bronco but Chiefs coaches were cautious not to let the team rush back into full intensity training too quickly.
The early focus was on seeing just where each player was at after the month-long lockdown period where individual fitness wasn’t monitored as closely. In that sense, it was every bit the same as your typical preseason.
What is ahead will test the Chiefs, and their fellow four New Zealand franchise opponents, to their very limits with each game now coming close to matching test levels of intensity. That is by nature what the New Zealand derby-matches have become hailed as by the players themselves, and they’re by far the most popular choice for viewers.
For a leading cog in the Chiefs backline, McKenzie expects the brutal challenge ahead and says that it will be important to get straight into the recovery process shortly after the fulltime whistle each week.
“You’ve got to have the same mentality every week, the Kiwi derbies are tough and the most important thing is recovery so it will be important that as soon as we finish each game we recover really quickly because it’s straight into the next”.
Recent history against the Highlanders shows every bit the tight and gruelling physical affairs that New Zealand-derby matches have become known for in Super Rugby.
Who could forget last year’s dramatic draw in Dunedin or the Highlanders comeback victory with a man down to begin the 2019 comp? Those two classics alone were a solid advertisement for Super Rugby as it enters a new unique instalment.
Last Friday, an inter-squad hit out gave Chiefs coaches a good look at just where everyone was at a little over a week out from Super Rugby Aotearoa, and for the most part, everyone has come through injury-free.
"If he’s only capable of cameos from the bench, that won’t diminish his standing or legacy"
– Hamish Bidwell on Dan Carter's return to Super Rugby at the Blues. #BLUvHUR #SuperRugbyAotearoa #SuperRugby https://t.co/gcatoBHEdR
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 9, 2020
Prior to the lockdown putting a red mark over the original 2020 season, things had been tracking well for the Chiefs, dropping just two of their six games and maintaining decent position on the ladder.
The lessons learnt from earlier in the year were primarily positive, namely how the gameplan Warren Gatland and co wanted to implement had been coming together nicely, but the biggest challenge had been how the Chiefs were starting games.
Often leaking a try or two early in most matches, the focus this time around for the Chiefs is ensuring they come out of the sheds as the team with a point to prove.
There is no better man, you sense, to ignite such a fire than McKenzie who tells of the importance behind senior players leading from the front.
“We want to set the tone by doing everything we can both on and off the field to be role models for the younger guys coming through but everyone is just so excited to be back training as a team and everyone is doing really well”.
But for the Highlanders clash at least, the Chiefs will have to do it without their skipper Sam Cane who revealed on Tuesday that he will sit out opening weekend due to a slightly stiff back.
Brad Weber is expected to take over the captaincy of the Chiefs when the squad is officially announced on Thursday.
Comments on RugbyPass
“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
3 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
2 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
3 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
3 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
3 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to comments