‘Putting his hand up’: McKenzie makes a statement in All Blacks’ big win

Coach Ian Foster didn’t give too much away after the All Blacks’ clinical 73-nil win over Uruguay in Lyon, with the New Zealanders setting their sights on a quarterfinal showdown with either Ireland, South Africa or Scotland.

After shocking the rugby world with an utterly dominant win over Italy at OL Stadium last week, coach Foster made a number of headline-grabbing changes to the team ahead of their final pool match.

Veteran Anton Lienert-Brown came into the starting side at outside centre and rising star Cam Roigard was named at halfback, but no selection was more intriguing than Damian McKenzie at fullback.

McKenzie, 28, was a man possessed during a sensational Super Rugby Pacific campaign with the Chiefs, but the playmaker failed to make his mark at Test level.

The utility started at flyhalf when the All Blacks played Argentina in Mendoza, but has otherwise played second-fiddle to the first-choice 10-15 combo of Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett.

But playing against Los Teros at the home of French football powerhouse Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday, McKenzie stole the show with a Player of the Match performance.

"He is going pretty good,” Foster said post-game. “We were delighted with him last week and I thought this week he played well. It was a game of turnover ball, wasn't it?

“I kind of got the feeling Barnesy [referee Wayne Barnes] wasn't too interested in seeing scrums. It became a lot of turnover ball and turnover defence and quite frankly Damian is good with that sort of stuff.

“I thought he played really well and when he went to 10 [from full-back] he continued that.  He is a player who continues to be important to us. He is really putting his hand up."

About an hour after the full-time whistle, you couldn’t wipe the smile off McKenzie’s face as he began to reflect on the match that was.

McKenzie scored two tries and kicked a couple of conversions during the 73-point rout of a valiant Uruguayan outfit. It was one of McKenzie’s best performances in the black jersey, and it came at the perfect time.

With a quarterfinal showdown against one of the world’s best teams looming, McKenzie said that “the job as any player” is to put your hand up for selection ahead of the big games.

“That’s the job as any player who gets an opportunity, you’ve got to try and make the most of it and put your hand up,” McKenzie told reporters.

“We’ve talked a lot about the competition at training, it’s healthy, we’re always trying to push each other.

“Hopefully I’ve put my hand up but whatever role I’m given in the team, whether it’s in the 23 or whether it’s not in the 23, from now on it’s one week at a time and it’s about preparing the team as best we can.

“I feel like the last couple of weeks have been good but we’ll wait and see what happens.”

Coach Foster admitted post-game that the All Blacks will probably finish second in Pool A after losing their tournament opener to hosts France last month.

Les Bleus are in control of their own destiny and simply need to beat a hurting Italian outfit at OL Stadium on Friday night to claim top spot.

New Zealand would then be expected to face world No. 1 Ireland in the quarterfinals, barring an incredible upset win by Scotland in Paris on Saturday.

But it’s all just hypotheticals at this point. The All Blacks are moving on and they’ll be ready for whoever they play.

“We’re in the quarterfinals now, it’s knockout rugby so it’s win or go home, and we know whatever opponent we face is going to be a tough one,” McKenzie added.

“For the last few games, defensively we’ve held teams out and then obviously in attack we’ve shown that we can score tries. That’s trending in the right direction.

“I’ve never been involved in a quarterfinal at a World Cup so I’ve never felt the pressure or know what it’s like, but there’s a lot of boys in the shed who experienced that four years ago.

“We’re really excited about the challenge, whoever it is we play.”