All Black Mckenzie Sets Example And Challenge For Ambitious England

Quilter Nations Series: England v New Zealand

Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Saturday, 15 November Kick-off: 15:10 GMT

Coverage: Live connected BBC Radio 5 Live and nan BBC Sport website and app

For 20 minutes astatine Murrayfield past weekend, small was going correct for Damian McKenzie.

The 30-year-old, 5ft 8in, 12 stone, adjacent hair, caller face, looks a small retired of spot among nan flying breeze blocks elsewhere connected nan pitch.

Initially, aft coming disconnected nan chair successful nan 44th infinitesimal against Scotland, he felt it too.

"Kyle Steyn had conscionable scored for them erstwhile I came on," he said.

"We kicked off, they put up a container footwear from nine, I went up to drawback it and wasn't capable to. I knocked my caput arsenic well.

"Blood started pouring out. We were astir of nan clip connected defence. We sewage a scrum, I kicked it out, but didn't make excessively galore metres.

"Then I missed a tackle connected Darcy Graham, luckily Cam Roigard saved nan effort successful nan corner, but I trim my chin. That started bleeding and I thought, 'here we go, it's going to beryllium a agelong past 15 minutes'."

It was a important 15 minutes arsenic well.

At that point, nan people was 17-17. The All Blacks were a man down via Wallace Sititi's yellowish card. Scotland were sniffing history.

In 120 years of trying, a first triumph complete New Zealand was a azygous constituent and a 4th of an hr away.

Then McKenzie, bloodied, bandaged and looking for illustration death, came to life.

A sweetly-struck footwear sailed complete Steyn and dribbled into touch 5 metres from Scotland's statement for a 50:22.

From nan resulting line-out nan shot was spun wide, McKenzie took an offload, bolted for nan area and, brilliantly shrugging disconnected nan covering Blair Kinghorn and George Turner pinch nan touchline looming, managed to crushed nan shot pinch an astonishing, pirouetting finish.

"Luckily my sprigs [studs] managed to enactment successful nan ground," said McKenzie, who besides landed a precocious long-range punishment to put nan crippled beyond doubt.

"My aged man ever utilized to opportunity put your 21s successful [21mm studs are nan longest permitted]. I didn't person those in, but I managed to support my feet successful nan ground, enactment successful and works nan ball."

Keeping his feet connected nan crushed is 1 of McKenzie's galore skills.

A dazzling runner, pinch a jagging measurement and crisp acceleration, less than 30 of his 72 All Blacks caps person travel arsenic a starter.

He has been shunted astir nan line-up and on nan bench, pinch Beauden Barratt and Will Jordan edging him retired arsenic nan starting fly-half and full-back respectively.

But McKenzie, nan boy of Southland dairy farmers, has been resilient, selfless and, arsenic ever, highly skillful.

Just for illustration his team.

New Zealand whitethorn not person nan aura of old. A decade ago, they visited Twickenham to cod their 2nd successive Rugby World Cup pinch a squad crammed pinch surviving legends.

Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Kieran Read and nan remainder played 133 matches during nan 2010s and mislaid only 13.

You only person to spell backmost to summertime 2022 to count up arsenic galore defeats for nan existent team.

But location is still a operation of flinty determination and composure nether unit that has restricted England to conscionable 8 victories successful 46 meetings crossed much than a century.

England skipper Maro Itoje knows that his team's nine-Test winning tally has not passed done specified vulnerable territory.

"There are nan weeks we and I unrecorded for," he told the BBC's Rugby Union Weekly. "It is simply a immense game, a immense occasion.

"It is simply a crippled we are very overmuch looking guardant to and I deliberation we are fresh to play them."

It is Itoje's first clip facing New Zealand arsenic captain, but he played each infinitesimal of past year's 3 meetings.

All of those ended successful pinch Kiwi wins, and nan All Blacks and achromatic shirts astatine other ends of nan affectional spectrum.

England travel successful pinch momentum and a scheme however; a high-energy bench, to antagonistic nan last-quarter slice that afflicted them successful 2024, and aerial ace wings, to replicate nan 2 cross-kick tries plundered astatine Eden Park past year.

Head coach Steve Borthwick knows also, successful bid to yet span nan mini separator betwixt nan sides, location is simply a non-negotiable.

"The players are going to person to suffer because that is what it takes against teams for illustration this," he said.

McKenzie did past week, and had nan accomplishment to return his reward connected nan different side. England must do nan same.