'We want to grow his influence in our team': McKenzie to start at fullback

Damian McKenzie is continuing his push for a spot in the matchday 23 come knockout time at the World Cup, this time having been named to start at fullback against Uruguay.

Having played most of his World Cup minutes to date at first five-eighth, McKenzie’s versatility could help land him the 22 or 23 jersey moving forward. But, with two playmakers already in the starting unit, it’s most likely going to be form that decides his involvement if the All Blacks do progress.

The partnership of Mckenzie at 15 and Richie Mo’unga at 10 has been only lightly tested by the All Blacks so far, but having squared off in the Super Rugby Pacific final earlier in the year, the duo are arguably the most in-form playmakers New Zealand has to offer.

The dual playmaker model isn’t without it’s challenges so in naming a new combination for the must-win match, Ian Foster is placing his trust in McKenzie to quickly find his feet in the new role.

“Well, he’s always been a 10-15 for us,” Foster told reporters. “So it’s keeping that combination between our 10 and 15 going well.

“We were really pleased with Damian last week and we want to grow his influence in our team and we think this is a good opportunity for him to do that. And Beaudie (Barrett) can be that calm head coming off the bench if we end up moving Damian into 10 later on.

“It’s to keep growing the combinations we think are working well for us. It also means it’s another continuity-type game for Will (Jordan). He’s played the first game, missed the next one and another couple of games in a row will be really positive for him.”

Jordan was another candidate for the fullback position but Foster has remained resolute in his view that the 25-year-old is better suited to the wing at this point in time.

The shift in position won’t phase McKenzie, who has plenty of experience in the No 15 jersey – although not recently.

“It’s a little bit different from what I’ve been playing this year,” McKenzie said. “It’s a role I am familiar with though. Particularly our role in the All Blacks as a 10, we find ourselves back in the backfield quite often.

“For me, it’s great to have an opportunity to have a bit more freedom at full-back and help out Richie (Mo’unga) where I can.”

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Rugby World Cup

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Uruguay

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Heading into the tournament, the All Blacks were trending upwards having gone undefeated in The Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup. The World Rugby No 1 ranking was within reach as the team ran out onto the Twickenham field to face the Springboks in a World Cup warm up.

Famously, that Test was lost by a record margin and so too was the Rugby World Cup’s opening match against France.

This is, however, a long tournament and there is time for improvements to be made – somtheing McKenzie made a point of addressing ahead of the Uruguay clash.

“We’ve grown really well from our first game against France and moving forward. We had a good performance against Namibia and then Italy last weekend was great as well.

“I think our attack is growing really well. From numbers 1-15 we are all putting up our hands where we need to in terms of our phase stuff and our attack. And we know we can definitely get better still.”