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Surprise positional switch for All Black Damian McKenzie in Chiefs' Super Rugby Aotearoa warm-up match

Damian McKenzie of the Chiefs. (Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images)

Utility back Damian McKenzie has been named to start in the Chiefs’ final warm-up of the year – but not in his usual fullback position.

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This Saturday, the Chiefs will square off against the Crusaders and Blues, playing 40 minutes against both sides. McKenzie has been tasked with running the cutter from first five in the absence of young playmaker Kaleb Trask.

McKenzie last wore the No 10 jersey in the fourth round of the 2019 Super Rugby competition. Then-coach Colin Cooper instilled McKenzie as his favoured playmaker but a run of poor results saw the utility revert back to his favoured fullback role.

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Trask, Bryn Gatland and Rivez Reihana were the three men named as first five options when the Chiefs revealed their squad late last year. Gatland will play at No 10 in the first half of Saturday’s match while Reihana will slot in at fullback. Trask, meanwhile, appears to be nursing an injury and won’t feature in the match.

The game will mark the first appearance of the Chiefs’ All Blacks contingent for 2021.

Captain Sam Cane will run out in the No 7 jersey against the Crusaders while Brad Weber, McKenzie and Anton Lienert-Brown will combine in the final ‘half’ of the three-half match.

Former All Blacks hooker Nathan Harris is also set to play his first game of professional rugby since 2019, having missed the entirety of 2020 due to a fractured ankle suffered during the previous season’s Mitre 10 Cup. Harris will feature on the bench in both halves.

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The Chiefs were set to name Cane’s co-captain earlier in the week but the plans were dashed due to the sudden re-emergence of COVID-19 in the community.

The Waikato-based side, who were unable to pick up a win in last year’s Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign, have an extra week to prepare for this year’s competition thanks to having the bye in the opening round.

They’ll kick their year off in two weeks’ time, against the Highlanders in Hamilton. Saturday’s match kicks off at 12:05pm NZT and will be broadcast live in New Zealand on SKY Sports.

Chiefs vs Crusaders

1. Aidan Ross
2. Samisoni Taukei’aho
3. Sione Mafileo
4. Tupou Vaa’i
5. Stan van den Hoven
6. Simon Parker
7. Sam Cane
8. Kaylum Boshier
9. Xavier Roe
10. Bryn Gatland
11. Jonah Lowe
12. Alex Nankivell
13. Sean Wainui
14. Shaun Stevenson
15. Rivez Reihana

Reserves:

Nathan Harris
Sekope Lopeti Moli
Ollie Norris
Joe Apikotoa
Viliami Taulani
Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi
Quinn Tupaea
Gideon Wrampling
Lisati Milo-Harris

Chiefs vs Blues

1. Reuben O’Neill
2. Bradley Slater
3. Joshua Iosefa -Scott
4. Naitoa Ah Kuoi
5. Josh Lord
6. Samipeni Finau
7. Mitchell Karpik
8. Luke Jacobson
9. Brad Weber
10. Damian McKenzie
11. Etene Nanai-Seturo
12. Rameka Poihipi
13. Anton Lienert-Brown
14. Bailyn Sullivan
15. Chase Tiatia

Reserves:

Sekope Lopeti-Moli
Nathan Harris
Ollie Norris
Joe Apikotoa
Viliami Taulani
Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi
Quinn Tupaea
Gideon Wrampling
Lisati Milo-Harris

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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TRENDING Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss
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