Mark McKenzie (born 2 December 1971) is a former Scotland 'A' international

Scottish rugby union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

player. He played for

Caledonia Reds Caledonia Reds were a Scottish rugby union professional district team who participated in the Scottish Inter-District Championship and in two seasons of the Heineken Cup. They evolved from one of the traditional four amateur districts of Scotland ...

and

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

in Scotland, and for

CS Bourgoin-Jallieu CS Bourgoin-Jallieu is a French rugby union club currently competing in the third level of the French league system, Nationale. The club have been runners-up in the French championship and the French Cup competitions, and have won the Challen ...

and

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

in France. McKenzie's career spanned the amateur and professional era. In 1989, he was playing for Glasgow District Under 18s. He won the Division One league title in 94/95 with Stirling County. On Scotland's rugby professionalism in 1996, McKenzie then played for

and won the

Scottish Inter-District Championship The Scottish Inter-District Championship is a rugby union competition between regional sides in Scotland. Established in 1953, the tournament went through several formats. The Scottish Rugby Union confirmed in January 2023 that the Scottish In ...

with them in the 1996-97 season; their first ever title. He played in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

with

. When

merged with

Glasgow Rugby Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

in 1998, to form Glasgow Caledonians, now

, McKenzie found himself without a professional club. He was to move to France where he joined

. He was there from 1998 to 2000. He signed for

for the start of the 2000 - 01 season. He made 3 appearances, scoring 129 points from three tries, 24 conversions, 20 penalties and two drop-goals. Competitively, he played 8 matches scoring 97 points. McKenzie made his debut for Glasgow in a friendly playing the Pacific Coast Grizzlies. In late 2000 he asked to leave Glasgow so that he could return to France to be with his girlfriend. He was unable to settle back in Scotland without her. The Glasgow coach

Richie Dixon Richie Dixon (born c. 1947) is a former rugby union footballer, the former head coach of the Scotland national team, the Georgia national team and Glasgow Caledonians (now known as Glasgow Warriors). He was head of Physical Education at Currie ...

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." Starting 2001, McKenzie secured a two and a half year deal with French side

. McKenzie also played in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. McKenzie came through the ages for Scotland. He played at Scotland U18, Scotland U19 and then Scotland 'A'. He became a SRU Regional Academy coach He played for, then coached

Falkirk RFC Falkirk Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Falkirk, Scotland. They currently compete in Scottish National League Division One, the second tier of Scottish club rugby. The club play their home matches at Cala Park. History The c ...

. He won BT National League Division 4 Player of the Year in 2005 and helped take the Falkirk club back up through the divisions, winning five successive championships. He mentored

Finn Russell Finn Alastair Russell (born 23 September 1992) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who primarily plays fly-half for Racing 92 in the Top 14. He has also represented Scotland at international level, having made his test debut against t ...

Adam Ashe Adam Ashe (born 24 July 1993 in Glasgow) is a former Scotland international rugby union player and now rugby union coach. He is the Assistant Coach for the Stirling Wolves. He previously played for the LA Giltinis of Major League Rugby in the ...

and

Grant Gilchrist Grant Gilchrist (born 9 August 1990) is a Scottish rugby union player who plays at lock for Edinburgh Rugby in the United Rugby Championship. Background Gilchrist was schooled at Lornshill Academy, and played with Alloa RFC before moving on t ...

. In 2012, he was appointed St Aloysius College's new director of rugby. He is also a Sports Performance consultant with ESP.

References

External links

EPCR ProfileStatbunker Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Mark Scottish rugby union players Stirling County RFC players 1971 births Living people Glasgow Warriors players Caledonia Reds players Falkirk RFC players Glasgow District (rugby union) players CS Bourgoin-Jallieu players Rugby Nice Côte d'Azur players Scotland 'A' international rugby union players Alumni of the University of the Highlands and Islands Rugby union fly-halves