Damian McKenzie reflects on key performance as All Blacks stun Ireland

Player of the Match Damian McKenzie acknowledged he “probably needed” a performance like that after being handed another shot in the No. 10 jersey. McKenzie led the way with an 18-point haul as the All Blacks stunned Ireland 23-13 at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Friday night.

With Beauden Barrett unavailable for the blockbuster Autumn Nations Series showdown, McKenzie was handed the reins as the All Blacks’ chief playmaker once again. The 29-year-old is no stranger to that jersey, having started the first eight Tests of the year in that role.

But with Barrett getting the nod to start in the second Bledisloe Cup Test at Wellington’s Sky Stadium, and again against England at Allianz Stadium last weekend, it seemed clear-cut that McKenzie had fallen down the depth chart as New Zealand’s second-choice option.

With Barrett out this week, coach Scott Robertson recalled McKenzie into the First XV for one of the team’s biggest Test matches of the year, with the All Blacks looking to beat Ireland in Dublin for the first time in eight years. The first five-eighth proved to be a difference-maker for the All Blacks.

McKenzie was all class as the All Blacks flexed their muscles to stun the team that had been ranked No. 1 in the world going into the Test. Following the 10-point victory, McKenzie was humble but also spoke about the importance of having a strong individual performance.

“It’s a little bit wet underfoot, gotta be pretty smart around our gameplan,” McKenzie said post-match on the broadcast.

“My mindset coming into this week was making the forwards’ job as easy as possible so putting the ball in front of them through our kicking game, trying to control it – I think we did that well in periods.

“Just really proud of the performance from everyone in our team.

“Yeah, probably needed to, and tonight was a great night to try and do that.

“I was able to work on a great platform that our forwards set; makes my job a whole lot easier. We’ve got some exciting backs who also make my job easier.

“Full credit to those boys, they make our jobs as 10s as easy as possible.”

With McKenzie leading the way, the All Blacks took a hard-fought 9-3 lead late in the first term. Jack Crowley had opened the scoring for the Irish in the seventh minute in the penalty goal, but McKenzie was accurate off the kicking tee with three attempts that followed.

While the visitors appeared to have some sense of control, a yellow card to midfielder Jordie Barrett proved to be a turning point. Crowley kicked his second penalty in the 39^th minute, and Josh van der Flier scored just after the break with the All Blacks still down to 14 men.

But, that red-hot start for the Irish during the second half was as good as it got in terms of points. They wouldn’t score in the remaining 37 minutes, while the All Blacks piled on the points with McKenzie converting another three penalty shots at goal.

The icing on the cake was a pivotal try to fullback Will Jordan, who has scored in all five Tests that he’s played against the Irish. Ireland looked to put some pressure on in the 10 minutes or so that followed, but New Zealand’s wall-like defence remained strong.

“Extremely tough. The Irish are a great side,” McKenzie reflected.

“We knew coming here that it was going to be a tough match, down to the wire.

“I’m just really proud of the boys’ efforts, particularly our forward pack (who) really muscled up, and then our backs were able to build pressure through our kicking game.

“It’s never here to win here at the Aviva so we’re very happy.

“Test matches like that are won in small moments and I think we capitalised on a few great small moments, built some great pressure, managed to get a few penalties and score some points.

“We’re over the moon with that one.”