Ewen McKenzie

Ewen James Andrew McKenzie (born 21 June 1965) is an Australian professional rugby union coach and a former player. A prop, he played for Australia's World Cup winning team in 1991 and earned 51 caps for the Wallabies during his test career. He played nine seasons for the NSW Waratahs and two for the ACT Brumbies.

McKenzie was head coach of the Australia team from 2013 to 2014. He has coached in Super Rugby for the Waratahs and Reds, and in France at Top 14 side Stade Français.

Early life Born in Melbourne, McKenzie was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne and at the University of New South Wales. He started every match of the 1990 French tour to Australia, winning the test series 2–1. His first major test series was the Bledisloe Cup series in August 1990. The All Blacks won the trophy with a 2–1 series win. McKenzie was part of the Australian side that claimed the 1991 Rugby World Cup, beating the All Blacks in the semi-final with a famous 16–6 victory at Lansdowne Road, before taking the cup with a 12–6 victory over England in the final at Twickenham, where he formed a formidable front row alongside Tony Daly and Phil Kearns.

In 1992, McKenzie travelled to Cape Town with the Wallabies to play the Springboks for the first time in 22 years. Australia defeated South Africa convincingly by 26–3. The previous month, McKenzie had won his first Bledisloe Cup series, beating the All Blacks 2–1 with a 19–17 victory at Ballymore, and a 16–15 victory at the Sydney Football Stadium. In the space of twelve months, the Australians won the World Cup and beaten the four home nations and South Africa and New Zealand.

The Wallabies were unable to retain the Bledisloe a year later after a 25–10 loss at Carisbrook. However, McKenzie was part of the team that beat South Africa for just the second time in a series on Australian soil with a 2–1 win over the Springboks during their 1993 tour of Australia. In 1994, the Wallabies won all 6 games they played in that year, with McKenzie starting in all 6 games. He was part of the 1995 Rugby World Cup squad, but was unable to retain their 1991 title following a 25–22 loss to England in the Quarter Finals at Cape Town.

In 1996, McKenzie played just two games of the Wallabies season, which were part of the 1996 Welsh tour of Australia. He missed the inaugural series of the Tri nations, but was reselected in 1997 for the 1997 French tour of Australia. 1997 was the year McKenzie retired from international rugby, making his last appearance on 12 July 1997 after a 25–6 victory over England in Sydney. In his entire career of 51 test matches, he only ever played as a substitute once, during a pool game in the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

World XV In 1992, played with the World XV to mark the centenary of the New Zealand Rugby Union. New Zealand won the series 2–1, with a 54–26 win at Wellington and a 26–15 win at Auckland. The World XV's only win was the opening match, where they secured a 28–14 win.

Honours Rugby World Cup / Webb Ellis Cup Winner: 1991 Bledisloe Cup Winner: 1992, 1994 Trophée des Bicentenaires Winner: 1990, 1993, 1997 Cook Cup Winner: 1997 Super 12 Runner-up: 1997 (Brumbies)

Coaching career Following his retirement from playing in 1997, McKenzie has coached at many different levels. He has coached both in the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere, taking on different roles of coaching. He began with the Brumbies in 1998 as a coaching co-ordinator before spending three years with the Wallabies as an assistant coach to Rod Macqueen and Eddie Jones. His success as an assistant landed him a role as head coach of the Waratahs, where his five-year tenure makes him the longest serving coach of the Sydney-based team. During this time he also briefly coached the Australia A side. McKenzie then joined French team Stade Français for the 2008–09 season.

He returned home in 2009 and took up the role as director of rugby for the Queensland Reds. He coached the Reds for four seasons from 2010 to 2013 before stepping down to pursue international opportunities. He was heavily linked with the head coaching positions of Scotland and Ireland, but it was the Wallabies McKenzie wanted to coach. On 8 July 2013, McKenzie was named head coach of the Wallabies succeeding Robbie Deans. After fifteen months in charge, McKenzie resigned as coach of the Wallabies on 18 October 2014.