Mackenzie: Canada can shock Saxons (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Mackenzie: Canada can shock Saxons

3:51pm Friday 17th June 2011 in Esher By Mark Bengoechea

Esher star Phil Mackenzie insists Canada can spring a shock if they can tame the mighty England Saxons pack in Saturday’s Churchill Cup final.

The versatile Mackenzie has been switched to outside centre as the Canucks gun for revenge for their 38-18 final defeat by the Saxons last year.

And Mackenzie believes Canada have shown a big improvement over the past 12 months and can give Stuart Lancaster’s side plenty of problems in the final at Sixways.

Mackenzie said: “We know it’s going to be tough because the Saxons are a powerful side and their scrum is looking very strong, especially Matt Stevens.

“They got three penalty tries from the scrum against Tonga so we know it’s going to be a big challenge for the boys but we are really up for it.

“They definitely had the edge over us in the scrum last year but we have improved massively since then, especially up front, and are looking for a little bit of revenge.

“We’ve played some pretty good rugby in the games against Italy A and Russia and we are really looking forward to it.”

Canada coach Kieran Crowley has been keen to use his full squad as they build up towards the World Cup finals in New Zealand and Mackenzie believes they now have more variety to their play.

The Esher ace, who played on the wing in their opening victory over Italy A, said: “We feel we have much more depth in the squad now and feel we can adjust the game plan where needed.”

Canada will be naming their World Cup squad a week after the Churchill Cup final and 24-year-old Mackenzie hopes he has done enough to book his ticket to New Zealand.

He added: “We go home on Sunday and then meet up for a few days at Whistler for a pre-World Cup camp.

“Then we have two games against the United States before going off to Australia for a couple of games. It’s very exciting and I hope I have done enough to get picked.”