Australia fly-half Arabella McKenzie is flourishing in a new environment at Harlequins and hopes to continue progressing after her stellar performances in the World Cup.
After singing for Quins in August from New South Wales Waratahs, McKenzie shone on the world stage playing every minute for an Australia side that reached the quarter-finals. McKenzie enjoyed her first showpiece event and believes it was a valuable experience that will benefit her in the long run.
She said: “The World Cup brought a lot of composure and calmness, I'm only 23, everyone says there's a lot of pressure on the 10 but when you have good team-mates, coaches and good people around you they ease the load and make your job a lot easier.
“As a person I've grown up and matured.
“It was a really cool experience, I haven't been to a World Cup before so just to be amongst it and see the New Zealand crowd was unreal. It was a really cool thing to be a part of and to witness history every weekend was really special.”
McKenzie has enjoyed her time since moving to south-west London, making an immediate mark on the Premier 15s scoring 21 points so far this season.
Harlequins have made a strong start to the season, winning four of their opening five games but despite her red-hot form from the tee, McKenzie is struggling to come to terms with the current temperatures.
She added: “It's been awesome settling in and we're in a really good place after the opening rounds. The cold is a bit much and I heard it's only going to get worse, so I'm mentally preparing for that. The girls have been really welcoming here and I'm loving my time at Harlequins so far.”
The silky rugby league convert scored a wonder try from inside her own half on her home debut at The Stoop against arch rivals Saracens in a 19-10 statement victory over last year's champions.
She said: “As soon as I saw it on Instagram I sent it to the family and my mates back home as I don't score many tries. It just kind of opened up for me and if I'm honest
I have watched it back a fair few times since.
“For my Stoop debut last weekend we had an awesome crowd down and it was pretty cool to know that everyone was there to watch women's rugby, whereas in Australia we wouldn't get a big crowd like that just for a women's game.
“The Harlequins support has been unreal so far and what the England women's team did in New Zealand can only be beneficial for women's rugby going forward.”
McKenzie grew up with a Steeden ball in her hands, as opposed to the Gilbert, as she dreamt of becoming a rugby league superstar with the St George Dragons from a young age, but was inspired to switch to union after watching TV coverage of the Australia women's sevens team's gold-medal run at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
She said: “I'm a diehard St George Dragons fan and my dad pretty much said if you don't support the Dragons you can't live under my roof !
“I love the skillset and the technical side of union which I don't think league has. Maybe one day I'll go back to playing league but I'm very much set on union and I've got some things to tick off in this sport first.”
