McKenzie on the pain of losing last year’s Super Rugby Pacific final

A new Shop and Save Super Rugby Pacific champion will be crowned tomorrow night when the Blues host the Chiefs in the grand final at a sold out Eden Park.

One player that is looking at redemption is Damian McKenzie who started at No. 10 when the Chiefs lost 25-20 to the Crusaders last year.

12 months on, McKenzie says the pain from that defeat still lingers in the back of the team’s mind and was fuelling the Chiefs as they aimed to go one better this year.

McKenzie says last years loss now that he thinks about it was probably a good learning experience for them heading into this year.

He says now they know what it takes and have to nail every moment.

After losing 31-17 when they last met the Blues in the final round of the regular season, McKenzie says the Chiefs are “right where they want to be” heading into the final.

Taukei'aho’s injury has been offset by the return of fullback Shaun Stevenson, who sat out the semifinal with a hamstring problem in the hope it would heal in time for Saturday.

The Blues host the Chiefs at 7.05pm tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks team will be named next Monday.

Source: Stuff.co