Damian McKenzie (born 20 April 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays Fullback or First-Five Eighth, for Waikato in the Mitre 10 Cup and for the Chiefs in Super Rugby. He also plays international test rugby for the All Blacks.
Video Damian McKenzie
Early life
McKenzie, of P?keh? and M?ori descent, was born in 1995 in Invercargill. He received his secondary education at Christ's College in Christchurch.
Maps Damian McKenzie
Domestic rugby
McKenzie has received attention for his trademark smile before attempting a kick at goal.
Since the beginning of the 2015 season, McKenzie has been contracted to the Chiefs franchise who compete in the Super Rugby competition. He has become a regular starter and is often in charge of goal kicking.
In 2016, McKenzie played every game in the Chiefs' starting line-up at Fullback. He finished the 2016 Super Rugby season as the Chiefs top try-scorer and the overall second highest try-scorer with 10 tries, behind Waratahs outside-back Israel Folau. He also finished the season as the second highest point-scorer with 199 points (10 tries, 43 conversion goals and 21 penalty goals); behind Hurricanes First Five Eighth Beauden Barrett.
In 2017, Damian McKenzie was the SANZAAR Player of the Season for the second year running. He ranked top of the charts for carries, metres and defenders beaten in the 2017 Super Rugby season, while also ranked in the top three for clean breaks and points scored.
International
McKenzie represented New Zealand Under-20 during the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship scoring 1 try, 7 conversions and 2 penalties in 5 games.
On 29 May 2016, McKenzie was named as an outside back in the New Zealand All Blacks squad for the June Test series against Wales. Although he was part of the All Blacks training camp, he did not play during the Test series. Despite being part of the All Blacks' squad for the 2016 Rugby Championship, he had to wait until October to make his test debut.
On 1 October 2016, McKenzie made his international test debut coming off the bench in the 48th minute during New Zealand's 36-17 win over Argentina in the 2016 Rugby Championship Tournament. On the 2016 All Blacks Northern Hemisphere Tour and following the All Blacks' first ever defeat to Ireland, he made his starting debut in the starting 15 playing at Fullback in the teams' 68-10 win over Italy.
Despite an outstanding Super Rugby campaign with the Chiefs in 2017, McKenzie was not selected in the initial squad for the All Blacks for the British and Irish Lions series, with the uncapped Hurricanes fullback Jordie Barrett being selected at McKenzie's expense. However, he was recalled to the team following Ben Smith's concussion in the first test.
Barrett was ruled out for the rest of 2017 with shoulder surgery following the conclusion of Super Rugby, while vice-captain Ben Smith took a sabbatical. This saw McKenzie become a regular starter for the All Blacks. McKenzie has played every single Rugby Championship test starting at fullback so far in 2017. McKenzie scored his first international try against Australia in the Bledisloe Cup on 19th Aug 2017, at the ANZ stadium in Sydney. Following a good performance against Argentina in Buenos Aires on 1 October 2017, McKenzie earned the award for Man of the Match. McKenzie earned that honour in two consecutive tests, winning the award the following week in the 25-24 win against South Africa.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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