Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara have earned the majority of the plaudits in driving the Hurricanes to their maiden Super Rugby championship, but the statistics show that little Chiefs back Damian McKenzie was one of the busiest and most dangerous backs in the competition.
The 21-year-old, who plays fullback for his franchise, reckons he weighs "80kg dripping wet", but his size is no impediment to his performances, and while his side were knocked out in the semifinal by the Hurricanes, McKenzie is looming as a crucial element to the franchise for the next few years.
Included in the All Blacks squad for the June tests against Wales, McKenzie didn't play a game, and he has been left out of the Rugby Championship squad, but appears certain to wear the black jersey in the near future - possibly on the November tour.
The keys to his success in only his second season at this level are his willingness to get involved and his slipperiness when he gets the ball. As the below statistics show, McKenzie ran further with the ball, and more often, than any other player. He also made the most breaks and beat the most defenders. Rounding off his outstanding year is the fact he made the second highest number of offloads, behind Highlander Malakai Fekitoa.
Credit must also be given to Lions loose forward Jaco Kriel, who finished third on the list of most defenders beaten, an extraordinary achievement for a forward. The beaten finalists made breaks almost at will as they stormed into the final, but unfortunately for them they were hard to come by in Wellington on Saturday.
