| Birth name | Mark McKenzie | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 2 December 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 171 cm (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 78 kg (12 st 4 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Dunblane High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of the Highlands and Islands | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Kevin McKenzie, brother | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mark McKenzie (born 2 December 1971) is a former Scotland 'A' international Scottish rugby union player. He played for Caledonia Reds and Glasgow Warriors in Scotland, and for CS Bourgoin-Jallieu and Nice in France.
McKenzie's career spanned the amateur and professional era. In 1989, he was playing for Glasgow District Under 18s.[1] He won the Division One league title in 94/95 with Stirling County.[2]
On Scotland's rugby professionalism in 1996, McKenzie then played for Caledonia Reds and won the Scottish Inter-District Championship with them in the 1996-97 season; their first ever title.[2] He played in the Heineken Cup with Caledonia Reds.
When Caledonia Reds merged with Glasgow Rugby in 1998, to form Glasgow Caledonians, now Glasgow Warriors, McKenzie found himself without a professional club. He was to move to France where he joined CS Bourgoin-Jallieu. He was there from 1998 to 2000.[3]
He signed for Glasgow Warriors for the start of the 2000 - 01 season.[4] He made 3 appearances, scoring 129 points from three tries, 24 conversions, 20 penalties and two drop-goals.[3] Competitively, he played 8 matches scoring 97 points. McKenzie made his debut for Glasgow in a friendly playing the Pacific Coast Grizzlies.[5]
In late 2000 he asked to leave Glasgow so that he could return to France to be with his girlfriend.[3] He was unable to settle back in Scotland without her.[6] The Glasgow coach Richie Dixon stated: "Reluctantly, we agreed to let Mark go with effect from the New Year. Obviously we are very sorry to see such a talented player departing but we wish him well in the future." The Chief Executive David Jordan said: "There has been no acrimony over the parting of ways. Mark leaves us on good terms and we genuinely hope his career blossoms again. He is a very potent midfielder and I can see no reason why he should not be continuing to push for Scotland honours in the near future."[3]
Starting 2001, McKenzie secured a two and a half year deal with French side Nice.[3]
McKenzie also played in New Zealand.[7]
McKenzie came through the ages for Scotland. He played at Scotland U18,[7] Scotland U19[7] and then Scotland 'A'.[6][8][9]
He became a SRU Regional Academy coach[10][11]
He played for, then coached Falkirk RFC.[7][12] He won BT National League Division 4 Player of the Year in 2005[13] and helped take the Falkirk club back up through the divisions, winning five successive championships.[14] He mentored Finn Russell, Adam Ashe and Grant Gilchrist.[14]
In 2012, he was appointed St Aloysius College's new director of rugby.[2][15][16] He is also a Sports Performance consultant with ESP.[7]
References
- ↑ "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search".
- 1 2 3 "New role for McKenzie (From Herald Scotland)". heraldscotland.com. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Rugby: MARK LEAVES CALEY LOSERS IN LOVE; But McKenzie gets a Nice new deal".
- ↑ "McLaren moves to Glasgow". ESPN scrum.
- ↑ "McKenzie and Harrison to make Reds' debuts". ESPN scrum.
- 1 2 Peter Donald (29 December 2000). "Unsettled McKenzie released from Caledonians contract". Telegraph.co.uk.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Mark McKenzie".
- ↑ John Nisbet at McDiarmid Park (22 September 2011). "Utterson guides Scotland to safety". The Independent.
- ↑ "BBC SPORT - RUGBY UNION - Scotland pushed all the way".
- ↑ "12 Young Rugby Stars Named In Scotland'S Youth Games Commonwealth Team".
- ↑ "Eddie Pollock Returns To Scottish Rugby".
- ↑ "Falkirk rugby coach steps to the sidelines".
- ↑ "Richard takes Premiership Player of the Year Award".
- 1 2 "ESP CrossFit Seminar - Facebook".
- ↑ "Watson's on familiar ground for schools rugby final".
- ↑ "Defeated Dundee High drop down to shield competition".