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Chiefs rest Damian McKenzie against 'dangerous beast' Crusaders
By Ned Lester
Damian McKenzie will not participate in the round-six contest against the Crusaders, with the Chiefs instead opting to rest their superstar playmaker in Christchurch.
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McKenzie has started all five games so far this season for the Chiefs, meaning a rest this week was mandatory given his All Blacks requirements.
In his place, young gun NPC champion Josh Jacomb will make the first start of his young Super Rugby career, partnering Xavier Roe in the halves.
“It’s an awesome opportunity for Josh Jacomb who gets his first start in a Chiefs Jersey, not only through Damian’s absence but as a reward for the hard work he has put in to get to this point,” Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan said. “We believe he can develop into something pretty special and can’t wait to see him run the cutter this week.”
McMillan also addressed the state of the Crusaders, traditionally a “formidable foe” but currently occupying last place on the table with five losses in as many weeks.
“No one is accustomed to seeing them start a season as they have, but in our view that makes them a dangerous beast. They have a lot of quality people down there and know they have the capacity to improve quickly. The challenge is to ensure it’s not against us.
“We are far from the finished product ourselves, where we have fluctuated between moments of brilliance and others that are sometimes short of our own expectations. But I love how this group own that, and there is no better opposition to see if the lessons learned can be applied quickly and effectively. It should make for another great game.”
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Chiefs team to face Crusaders
1. Aidan Ross
2. Samisoni Taukei’aho
3. George Dyer
4. Manaaki Selby-Rickit
5. Josh Lord
6. Naitoa Ah Kuoi
7. Kaylum Boshier
8. Luke Jacobson
9. Xavier Roe
10. Josh Jacomb
11. Etene Nanai-Seturo
12. Quinn Tupaea
13. Anton Lienert-Brown
14. Emoni Narawa
15. Shaun Stevenson
Reserves
16. Bradley Slater
17. Jared Proffit
18. Reuben O’Neill
19. Jimmy Tupou
20. Simon Parker
21. Cortez Ratima
22. Josh Ioane
23. Daniel Rona
Unavailable for selection: Kaleb Trask, Tupou Vaa’i, Tyrone Thompson, Malachi Wrampling, Damian McKenzie (All Blacks rest).
This is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason).
Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.