Watch: Damian McKenzie's top 10 plays of the Super Rugby season
Chiefs and All Blacks dynamo Damian McKenzie was one of the best entertainers in this year’s Super Rugby season. With the Chiefs bowing out to the Hurricanes in Friday night’s quarter final, RugbyPass reviews his top 10 plays of the season.
10. Catch me if you can
Damian McKenzie’s ‘escapability’ is off the charts. Just when you think he’s caught for all money he will slip the tackle and turn nothing into something. It’s becoming a hallmark of his play and what makes him one of the most exciting players in the competition.
In Round 8 against the Hurricanes, the play breaks down as McKenzie is under all sorts of pressure out the back. He beats the rush defender, escaping to the outside and keeps the ball alive. The Chiefs score in the corner at a crucial point in the game to stay in touch.
Despite going on to lose the match, this was a perfect example of his ability to recover from a bad situation and make a play.
9. Counter-attack try vs Sunwolves
As a fullback over the last two seasons, McKenzie routinely dazzled from the back on the counter.
This year was more subdued as he spent more time in the frontline, with Alaimalo emerging as a dangerous return man. On one of the few highlights from the back, McKenzie combines with his brother to turn a sticky situation into a long-range try under the posts.
8. Strip-steal and clearance vs Blues
This won’t make many highlight reels but as a ‘play’ goes, this strip-steal on Blues replacement halfback Sam Nock makes the list due to context.
In Round 3 at Eden Park, both sides were coming off first up losses and desperate to get a conference win. Holding a six-point lead with eight minutes remaining, McKenzie’s defensive kicking game played a massive part in closing out the victory and holding onto the slim lead.
This play was a double whammy, turning over the ball and driving the Blues back deep into their own 22 with a perfectly placed kick. He hit another excellent touch finder with just two minutes remaining, keeping the Blues from having any real try-scoring chance into the final minute.
The Blues butchered the lineout throw but McKenzie’s big kicking plays in the period 15 minutes prior were just as influential at keeping the Blues out.
7. Cat and Mouse vs Barrett
In Round 8 the two All Blacks first fives dueled at the Caketin, with the incumbent Barrett getting the best of McKenzie on the night.
That didn’t stop McKenzie playing Barrett perfectly on this line break assist. The intercept mogul Barrett rushes out of the line looking for a loose pass but McKenzie holds the ball up, delaying the pass to ensure that Barrett overruns it. He hits Johnny Fa’auli in the open running lane left by Barrett’s over-eagerness.
There was a hint of a forward pass but the read and reaction was brilliant from McKenzie.
6. Skinning the Sunwolves
His long passing game got better and better as the season went on, especially on dry tracks with little wind like this day in Tokyo. McKenzie has had problems with intercepts as a result of chancing his arm with massive cutouts.
On this occasion, he skins the Sunwolves down the short side with a rocket straight to the open winger Pulu on the sideline. The fastball puts Pulu in space and he returns the favour by passing back inside for McKenzie to finish off on a beautiful 1-2 play. As the Chiefs smashed the Sunwolves 61-10, he had his best day of the season scoring two tries and laying on two more.
5. Game sealing try vs Waratahs
With time up on the clock, the Chiefs have the lead with one play remaining.
Instead of kicking the ball out, the Chiefs run a switch play from the scrum back to McKenzie to the openside. From a standing start, he beats his man to the outside and scampers around underneath the posts to seal the win and steal the bonus point away from the visiting Waratahs.
4. Two touches, all class
The ability to get up and be involved in multiple phases is a quality that great attacking first-fives possess.
Against the Highlanders in Round 7, McKenzie had one of his best games of the season. With halftime approaching, he starts to get involved more and dictate terms with the defence. On his first touch, he sends Anton Lienert-Brown on a probing run by playing him back inside. He commits the Highlanders defender and takes a shot in the process.
He is able to get back up, return to first receiver and call for the ball on the very next phase. Using front foot ball, he flattens up and puts a chip-kick over to winger Pulu, who bats the ball back in-field to Alaimalo to score.
His lead-up work was exceptional and his side was rewarded with a defining try. The Chiefs took the lead into the break and went onto win the match.
3. No-look cutout pass vs Highlanders
There are very few humans who can fire a 25-metre rainbow left-to-right and hit the runner on the chest. McKenzie is one of them.
When you consider the pressure he is under on this play, it makes it even better. Without having any time to sight his target, he turns and fires all in one motion, hitting Liam Messam out wide in space. The degree of difficulty involved is monumental, and this highlight starts to reach video-game levels. This is unreal.
2. Over-the-top Basketball pass vs Blues
Heading into the return derby against the Blues in Round 8, Tana Umaga’s men were under immense pressure to get a win against a New Zealand side. The Chiefs were decimated by injuries and it looked like finally happening.
In the opening stanza, McKenzie sparked the Chiefs early with two quality touches in this wide movement, backing up a long pass with an over-the-top basketball assist to a flying Sean Wainui. In a tight contest, this big play ended up playing a role as the Chiefs came away with a tight 21-19 win.
1. Behind the back and follow-up try vs Brumbies
This was again another example of two classy back-to-back touches and striking while the iron is hot.
This outlandish behind the back ball to halfback Brad Weber takes the cake for Damian McKenzie’s top Super Rugby plays of 2018. In full stride, the playmaker has the audacity to throw a ‘globetrotter’ ball before getting hammered. With the Chiefs having made the initial break, McKenzie works back to get another touch and finds himself with two lumbering forwards still retreating.
With a touch of acceleration, the playmaker breaks through the reaching grasp of the Brumbies defender and runs away to finish off the movement.
Comments on RugbyPass
Jake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
34 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
34 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
9 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
34 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
9 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
9 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
11 Go to comments