Jeff Wilson points to crucial factor in Damian McKenzie's No.10 display

Chiefs first-five Damian McKenzie made a smooth transition to the All Blacks No.10 jersey against the Wallabies at Eden Park, after spending the first seven Tests of the year at fullback.

McKenzie was named at first-five after both Richie Mo’unga and Ruben Love were ruled out of the Bledisloe Cup series through injury, shifting Beauden Barrett to fullback.

Dave Rennie’s All Blacks piled on 33 unanswered points in the second half to power past the in-form Wallabies and clinch the Bledisloe Cup for the 24th consecutive season.

McKenzie, who started at No.15 for every Test under Rennie prior to Eden Park, used his elusive running game to kickstart All Blacks counter-attacks in the first half.

The Chiefs playmaker played a key role in Peter Lakai’s five-pointer, following a Jordie Barrett high-ball take over Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i. The All Blacks recycled possession in midfield before McKenzie pierced through a gap in the Wallabies’ defence to put Lakai over the white chalk.

Former All Black Jeff Wilson praised McKenzie’s overall performance at Eden Park, but also acknowledged the key reasons behind his success, including the attacking platform the All Blacks laid.

“You give Damian McKenzie that sort of front–foot ball, and he’s going to be a handful for anybody,” Wilson said on The Breakdown.

“And what we did see in his game is just the supreme confidence in the way he wants to play. And I think that’s the most important thing.

“Whether it’s 10 or 15, he knows exactly how this coaching team want him to play, and what he can do and do well clearly fits with their game plan, and he hardly had to kick the ball in this game.

“We controlled the air, and we’ll talk about that a little bit later with Cameron Roigard’s kicking. So he [McKenzie] was always thinking about run first. Where’s the opportunity to run?

“But I also think this was on the back of a remarkable performance from our forward pack in terms of getting momentum. 

81-Test former All Black halfback Justin Marshall said McKenzie’s control of the game was evident from the get-go.

“I think what he did was make a statement towards the fact that he can start a Test match for the All Blacks and put in a performance like that that drives the game for 80 minutes,” Marshall said on The Breakdown.

“That was probably the one area of concern, given DMAC’s opportunities he’s had previously, and him controlling that whole 80 minutes was in doubt. And when he’s been coming in, when Ruben Love got sin-binned and various times that he’s come in, he’s looked really good.

“He slotted in there from fullback, but the game’s already going then. But this was his opportunity to start right from the start. And I thought the way he controlled it, his injections, his toughness, his work in the air, his defence, and then the things that he set up were what you want from an All Black 10.

“So yes, he has entered into that conversation [to start there in the future], he would have made them have to think about the fact that, man, we do have that option there.”