Injuries made Damian McKenzie the All Blacks’ third-choice 10. After two wins, Stephen Donald told The Aftermatch that coaches are allowed to change their minds, even if “they might not admit it”.
“So look, coaches are allowed to change their mind. They might not admit it, but they are.”
Stephen Donald said on The Aftermatch on Monday 19 October that coaches can change their minds about Damian McKenzie at 10. Donald, a former All Blacks fly-half, kicked the winning penalty in the 2011 World Cup final and co-hosts the podcast with broadcaster Kirstie Stanway.
McKenzie only has the jersey because of injuries. Ruben Love is out for the year after ankle surgery. Richie Mo’unga tore his calf at training on Tuesday 6 October, and within two days Dave Rennie had moved McKenzie in from full-back.
Two Tests and 93 points later, Stanway asked whether Rennie had found something he was never looking for. Donald’s answer turned on what the Wallabies did to stop McKenzie in Sydney.
When Richie Mo’unga is fit, should Damian McKenzie keep the 10 jersey? Have your say in the comments.
“How was he our third choice 10?”
Stanway opened by calling McKenzie a masterstroke at 10. Donald reminded her she had been reactionary a week earlier, wanting to change everything after one performance.
She had one line back.
“No, I just said, how was he our third choice 10?”
Donald gave the selectors their due first.
“Well, that’s obviously been the decision made by the power brokers, and fair enough, too.”
Then Stanway put the real question.
“Is it something that Rennie maybe didn’t consider? They’ve been forced into it and now you have to reconsider.”
Stephen Donald on coaches who change their minds
Donald agreed straight away. “Well, definitely,” he said.
Then he reached for an example he chose not to name, a player he called the world’s best 12 right now.
That player, he said, was “forced upon an All Black coach when he said, ‘No, he’s not a midfielder,’ and then a week later had to, and he’s never gone back.”
He did not say who the player was, or the coach. His point was that an injury can force a selection on a coach, and the coach can end up keeping it.
What the Wallabies did to stop Damian McKenzie
The case for McKenzie at 10 is in what happened when Australia tried to stop him. Donald saw it from the stand at Accor Stadium.
“Obviously they went away, they reviewed and thought, ‘Oh, we’ve got to defend Damian McKenzie better,’ and there was a lot of attraction around where he was. But all of a sudden, did you see how many weak shoulders or even just clean line breaks all those forwards one or two channels wider were making…”
The Wallabies had watched McKenzie cut them open at Eden Park the week before, 50-19. So they sent defenders towards him.
Each defender who went left a gap further out.
“…they shifted to shut down Damian, but then Wallace Sititi, Peter Lakai had an absolute field day. Codie Taylor out in midfield. They were just running absolute havoc, and that was just off Damian McKenzie’s passes, and there was nothing fancy to it.”
The scoresheet backs him. Peter Lakai scored on 21 minutes and Wallace Sititi on 32. Codie Taylor’s break helped set up Josh Moorby’s opening try. Lakai was named player of the match, and it was 36-7 at half-time.
A playmaker who draws two defenders makes a forward’s job easy. The inside defender turns his shoulders towards the 10. The forward running in the next lane out then meets an outside shoulder instead of a chest.
Watch it against Scotland on Saturday 7 November. When McKenzie takes the ball flat to the line, look at the next lane out.
Brad Weber does not accept “third choice”
Stanway had put the same question a day earlier on Sky Sport NZ’s The Breakdown, which she also hosts. Brad Weber, the former All Blacks halfback who played inside McKenzie at the Chiefs, would not have it.
“Well, he’s not really, is he? He’s not a third choice ten. He’s been playing full-back, right?”
Weber has a point. McKenzie started the year behind Love and Mo’unga in the queue for 10, but Rennie had been picking him at full-back.
With Donald, Stanway went further. She compared McKenzie with two of rugby league’s best full-backs, Reece Walsh and Kalyn Ponga.
“Damian McKenzie can change a game like no other. Like the 0.1%.”
Donald’s warning: remember Love and Mo’unga
Donald did not sign up for a coronation. He reminded Stanway of his own warning from the week before about being reactionary, and listed the men who are not playing.
“Just remember Ruben Love had a wonderful tour of South Africa.”
He added that Mo’unga is widely regarded as one of the world’s best, then handed the decision back to the selectors.
“So let’s just celebrate the fact that we’ve got a depth like no one else, and I guess leave those big decisions to the guys that get paid all that money.”
Love’s choice is already made for him. He misses Scotland, Wales and England. Mo’unga is the live one, and the northern tour squad is named after the NPC final.
So whenever Rennie does face a decision this year, it will be between McKenzie and Mo’unga.
Keep McKenzie at 10 when Mo’unga is fit
In McKenzie’s two Tests at 10, the All Blacks have scored 93 points, and the pack ran through the holes he opened. The Wallabies changed their defence to stop him and lost the first half 36-7.
When Mo’unga is fit, he goes on the bench. McKenzie keeps the jersey because opponents now have to plan for him, and those plans are what opened the space for Lakai and Sititi.
Injuries made the call for Rennie, and both results since have backed it.
The Aftermatch has the full episode on YouTube.
Your turn: McKenzie or Mo’unga?
Two ways to see it. Damian McKenzie has the form, and the Wallabies built a defence around him and still lost by 22. Mo’unga has the control, and he was in line for the jersey before his calf went.
With both fit, who wears 10? Have your say in the comments.
Frequently asked
Why is Damian McKenzie playing 10 for the All Blacks?
Ruben Love is out for the year after ankle surgery and Richie Mo’unga tore his calf on Tuesday 6 October. Dave Rennie moved McKenzie from full-back to 10 for the Bledisloe Tests at Eden Park and in Sydney.
What did Stephen Donald say about Damian McKenzie at 10?
On The Aftermatch, released on Monday 19 October, he said “coaches are allowed to change their mind. They might not admit it, but they are”, and that the Wallabies’ plan to stop Damian McKenzie opened space for Peter Lakai and Wallace Sititi.
When do the All Blacks play next?
Scotland on Saturday 7 November, then Wales on Saturday 14 November and England on Saturday 21 November.
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