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Watch: A schoolboy Damian McKenzie leaves commentators lost for words with brilliant performance
By Online Editors
Damian McKenzie captained Christ College 1st XV in his final year after being a three year player at the elite schoolboy level.
In 2013 his Christchurch-based school travelled south to one of the country's powerhouse rugby schools - Otago Boys High School - known for having a strong pack and physical defence, for an annual traditional.
The explosive first five led his side's haka with incredible mana to mount the challenge against the home side, before delivering a performance that left the commentary team lost for superlatives.
McKenzie scored all of his side's 16 points as an improbable upset looked on the cards before Otago Boys mounted a second half comeback and chased down Christs to win 19-16.
Despite a great individual showing, McKenzie showed little regard for the individual praise, deflecting to his teammates for a great showing and expressed disapointment at not having won the match.
The game certainly cemented McKenzie's status as an up and comer worthy of watching, which didn't take long to translate to the next level.
He immediately became one of Super Rugby most exciting attacking talents with the Chiefs before debuting with the All Blacks in 2017.
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We can all see this problem, eh? Love the clips showing how smart opposition coaches exploit it though. Thanks, Nick.
Borthwick has obviously earned the right to expect people to look elsewhere when the sort of personal problems likely at the heart of Jones' departure occur but it's hard to believe he's, if not entirely to blame, at least most of the problem.
England seem between choices in every aspect of their play to me right now
Go to commentsBM My rugby fanaticism journey began as a youngster waking up in the early hours of the morning with a cup of coffee to watch the Boks play the ABs on that 1981 rebel tour, where we lost the last game in the dying seconds to a penalty, and ended up losing the series 2-1. Danie Gerber, Naas Botha, Ray Mordt, and DuPlessis, to name a few; what a team! I believe we could've won another World Cup with those boys playing in their prime.
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