He has coached in both southern and northern hemispheres, in Super Rugby for the Waratahs and Reds, and in France at Top 14 side Stade Français.
[1] Ewen McKenzie played prop for the New South Wales Waratahs 37 times between 1987 and 1995, before joining the Brumbies in 1996, for the inaugural Super 12 season.
McKenzie was the second Victorian born and bred player to represent Australia after the great Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop.
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,[3] 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 the space of twelve months, the Australians won the World Cup and beaten the four home nations and South Africa and New Zealand.
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.
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.
McKenzie's last duties as assistant coach was during the 2003 Rugby World Cup, where Australia lost the final to England in extra time.
[12] On 9 October 2009 it was announced that McKenzie was leaving France to return home to Australia, and that he was taking over the coaching job of the Queensland Reds in the Super 14, succeeding Phil Mooney.
Having devised a brand of rugby that received international acclaim, the Reds topped the regular season with 13 victories and just 3 losses.
Despite the expansive style of rugby introduced by previous head coach Phil Mooney, the team had remained in the bottom half of the table.
In February that year Greg Growden outlined McKenzie's plan to "select a faster, more mobile forward pack" for the Super Rugby season opener against the Waratahs in Sydney.
[14] A week later he explained, "The decision [by Queensland Rugby] to recruit Richard Graham from the Western Force was a proactive one made ... to ensure we can sustain ongoing success both with the Reds and in the community game.
In response he said: "I have found this year's competition to be one of the tightest in memory and this is more of a reflection on the strength of play from all teams as opposed to any perceived weaknesses.
Although he wasn't set to take over the Wallabies job until 4 August, his reign at Queensland Reds ended on 20 July following a 38–9 defeat to the Crusaders in the Qualifiers of the 2013 season, allowing him to turn his attention to Australia 2 weeks earlier than expected.
[21] On 8 July 2013, following the resignation of Robbie Deans after a test series defeat to the British & Irish Lions, McKenzie was expected to be selected as Wallabies coach.
[22] He was officially named Wallabies coach to replace Robbie Deans on 9 July 2013, and said that he would start his duties with Australia as soon as his job was completed at the Queensland Reds.
[24] In this match he gave five debutants their first cap, including Matt To'omua being named at fly-Half ahead of Quade Cooper.
[25] McKenzie then led the team to a 38–12 defeat by South Africa in Brisbane, which was the Wallabies' largest losing margin to the Springboks in Australia.
[26] The next match was a 14–13 win over Argentina in a game hampered by heavy winds and rain in Perth, and it was McKenzie's first taste of victory as an international coach.
The Wallabies's unbeaten run stretched to 8 matches with a 12–all draw with New Zealand, prompting optimism that Australia could end their 28-year losing streak at Eden Park.
The result came as a surprise to some as Australia had led 14–0 after scoring two tries in the first twelve minutes, but had but only managed to add one further penalty during the rest of the match.
McKenzie announced the end of his tenure as Australian head coach in the press conference after the final Bledisloe Cup test of 2014, explaining that he had submitted his resignation on the morning of the match against the All Blacks, effective regardless of whether the result was a win, loss or draw.
[32] As the fall-out continued it was reported that Beale had distributed offensive texts and images referring to Patston some months earlier.