Phil Mackenzie is no stranger to rugby in London, England;
having previously played for both Esher RFC and the London Wasps “A” program.
However, even before being interviewed by BBC Radio earlier last week, you got
the impression that the enormous rugby community in the British capital is
finally taking note of him.
The Canadian flyer has been rested during his club’s recent
stretch of Amlin Challenge Cup competition, but The Pro Report was live at
Kassam Stadium in Oxford, England, a few weeks ago, when Mackenzie started yet
another match on the wing for London Welsh against the Saracens. It didn’t take
long for the Canadian flyer to make an impression. From the opening kickoff it
became clear that his team’s systems had taken note of his natural gifts, as
the club’s fly-half, Gavin Henson, calmly lofted his starting kickoff high to
Mackenzie’s side of the field. The
result was a thundering tackle by Mackenzie who threw all of his speed and
power into the kick-chase; it was an outcome that replayed itself throughout
the match.
Once the contest had begun the Saracens used their enormous
ball runners to batter the Welsh back into their own end. It was then, early in the match, that an
errant pass from Saracens fly-half Charlie Hodgeson landed in front of an
onrushing Mackenzie, who booted the ball down-field and took off in
pursuit. The speed necessary to play
wing in the Aviva Premiership is not easy to attain, yet Mackenzie left his
pursuers for dead and raced on to smoothly gather the low-bouncing ball and
carry a would-be tackler across the try-line.
When we talked to Phil Mackenzie about having worked on his
speed in recent times, in preparation for his first season of Premiership
rugby, he had these comments:
“In terms of my speed training I think my work with my Speed
Coach Margot Wells has been instrumental in improving my running and ability to
perform on the pitch. Speed is the hardest thing to defend on the pitch and if
a player can make even the smallest gain in that area then it will pay off in
the long run.”
Mackenzie’s try temporarily put his team in the lead, but
slowly the Saracens began to impose their will.
The kicking of Gavin Henson managed to keep London Welsh in
the match, but things looked dim for Mackenzie’s club, when he again stepped up
to make a difference in the second-half.
Taking a long clearance kick in his own end, Mackenzie sent the ball
left to on Gavin Henson, before beginning a long and hard looping run to the
opposite side of the pitch. The ball
went through several sets of
Welsh hands, before it again found Mackenzie who had taken
the perfect line through the Saracens defense and raced into open space. A smooth pass to Welsh fullback Tom Arscott
was all that was needed to beat the last Saracens defender and score the try
that would give the team hope.
A questionable refereeing decision on a Welsh scrum deep in
Saracens territory ended that match with a victory for Saracens, and a losing
bonus-point for the disappointed Welsh, but all in attendance had seen a
performance from the Premiership newcomers that spoke volumes about their
potential. Mackenzie is equally pleased
with his team’s progress and spoke to us about his first season in England’s
top tier.
“With regards to my experience so far at London Welsh, I am
enjoying every minute of it. Lyn Jones is constantly asking more from the
players and it is already paying dividends; as you can see in the improvements
our team has already made in such a short period of time. It is a close group
of players and everyone is playing for one another, which I think shows on the
pitch.
Lyn focuses on the small details of the game and always
believes we can do better which inevitably will make myself and my teammates
better players. Being in a full time environment is exactly what I need if I
want to progress as a player.”
As one of only a handful of Canadian players ever to feel
the exhilaration of scoring tries in the English Premiership, few would ague
that Phil Mackenzie has already progressed to a standard that should make his
entire country proud. Certainly, every
fan of Canadian rugby will hope that his fearsome running will be present in
Canada’s line-up, when the national senior men’s team visits Oxford, on its November
tour, in just a few weeks time.
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Jeff Hull is a freelance contributor to Rugby Canada. His
Rugby Canada Pro Report can be read regularly on this website, as well as on
Facebook, Twitter and in the Blogosphere.
To contact the author, write to: jhull@rugbycanada.ca
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