[citation needed] On 15 April 2019, McKenzie was diagnosed with a torn ACL suffered against the Blues at FMG Stadium Waikato in the Super Rugby competition.

On 8 February 2020, Damian Mckenzie was named at fullback for the Chiefs in their 25-15 victory over the Crusaders after recovering from his ACL injury.

Damian Mckenzie kicked off 2021 with a hiss and a roar, scoring tries in the Chiefs opening games of their Super Rugby Aotearoa season against the Highlanders and the Crusaders.

Mckenzie then put on an inspiring performance, playing away at Sky Stadium against the Hurricanes to end the Chiefs record-breaking 11 match losing streak dating back to pre Covid 19 lockdown.

Following the bye week, Mckenzie slotted a historical match winning penalty against the Higlanders - from around 50m, in the first ever golden point extra time in New Zealand rugby.

Damian McKenzie started at 10 in the Chiefs opening 2 games of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, beating the Western Force and The Brumbies.

In a round 6 clash vs the Blues, McKenzie scored 10 points as the Chiefs won six out of six games before heading into their bye.

[10] Although he was part of the All Blacks training camp, he did not play during the Test series due to winger Israel Dagg's return from injury.

On 1 October 2016, McKenzie made his international test debut coming off the bench as a replacement for Ryan Crotty in the 48th minute during New Zealand's 36-17 win over Argentina in the round 5 of the Rugby Championship.

Despite an outstanding Super Rugby campaign with the Chiefs in 2017, McKenzie was not selected in the initial squad for the All Blacks for the Pasifika Challenge against Samoa and the three-test British and Irish Lions series, with the uncapped Hurricanes utility back Jordie Barrett being selected at McKenzie's expense.

With Jordie Barrett ruled out for the rest of 2017 with shoulder surgery following the conclusion of Super Rugby and while Ben Smith took a sabbatical following the 35-29 victory over Australia on 26 August 2017, McKenzie received more game-time featuring at Fullback.

Following a good performance against Argentina in Buenos Aires on 1 October 2017, where he scored a try and set All Blacks captain Kieran Read up for the opening try, McKenzie earned the award for Man of the Match.

In the first test he immediately made an impact off the bench, scoring a try from a 60m break, and assisting Ngani Laumape minutes later.

Coming off the bench against for the first four tests, he was then sent home from Argentina for a family bereavement and was dropped the next week against the Springboks in favour of Richie Mo'unga.

McKenzie got his chance to start, playing at fullback in the third Bledisloe Cup match in Japan on the northern tour where he produced an outstanding performance combining with fellow playmaker Beauden Barrett in steering the team around the field during the All Blacks' 37-20 win over the Wallabies.

[12] After playing a significant role for the Chiefs during Super Rugby Aotearoa, Damian Mckenzie was named in the 2020 All Blacks squad.

One week later he started at fullback against Australia where the All Blacks got the win 57-22, Mckenzie notably made a 57 meter long penalty kick in this game.

In 2022, McKenzie made 2 appearances for the All Blacks XV in their Northern Tour against Ireland Wolfhounds and the Barbarians at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

In 2023, Mckenzie started his international year playing the full 80 minutes in Round 1 of The Rugby Championship against Argentina.