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Watch: All Blacks speedsters Rieko Ioane and Damian McKenzie light up Mitre 10 Cup with pair of scintillating tries
By Online Editors
The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup campaign is back in full swing, and the New Zealand provincial competition has sprung back into action with a bang thanks to involvement of All Blacks across the country.
Two internationals, in particular, have caught the eye after capping off a pair of spectacular long range tries across two matches played on Saturday.
Starting at fullback and playing in his first game for Waikato in four years, Damian McKenzie scored one of the best tries in his side's 53-28 win over Wellington in Hamilton.
With the visiting Lions chasing the game with little under a quarter of an hour to play, Wellington halfback TJ Perenara threw a looping pass intended for teammate Trent Renata well inside enemy territory, but the ball found the ground rather than the fullback's hand.
Scooping the loose ball from deep inside his own 22 metre mark, McKenzie was quick to pounce on it and canter away downfield, with his lightning pace proving no match for the covering defensive chase by Wellington playmaker Jackson Garden-Bachop.
It capped off an impressive performance by the 25-year-old, who scored a match-high 33 points, kicking five conversions and six penalties in a well-rounded display.
He wasn't the only All Black to show a clean pair of heels to score in the day's afternoon matches, with star midfielder Rieko Ioane capitalising on some brilliant playmaking by young playmaker Harry Plummer in Auckland's 38-6 win over Otago.
Bursting through the home side's limp defensive line, Plummer scorched into the opposition's half at pace and sucked in Otago captain and fullback Michael Collins with a seductive dummy.
He then went on to beat the scramble of Josh Ioane by freeing up Rieko with a tidy inside pass to send the 23-year-old midfielder in near the posts in what turned out to be a rampant victory at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
With so much free-flowing rugby on offer across New Zealand, it's clear to see why so many punters have been longing for an All Blacks-laden Mitre 10 Cup this season, and those test stars have undoubtedly delivered thus far.
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Latest Comments
500k registered players in SA are scoolgoers and 90% of them don't go on to senior club rugby. SA is fed by having hundreds upon hundreds of schools that play rugby - school rugby is an institution of note in SA - but as I say for the vast majority when they leave school that's it.
Go to commentsDon't think you've watched enough. I'll take him over anything I's seen so far. But let's see how the future pans out. I'm quietly confident we have a row of 10's lined uo who would each start in many really good teams.
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