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Canadian rugby international Phil Mackenzie is in good company at London Welsh these days, rubbing shoulders with players from England, France, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Samoa, Scotland, Tonga and, of course, Wales. And the 25-year-old wing/centre from Oakville, Ont., is fitting in nicely in the top level of English rugby, having scored two tries already for the newly promoted club. The latest came last Sunday in a 29-19 loss to London Irish. The Canadian also scored in a 28-23 loss to Saracens on Oct. 7. London Welsh (2-5-0) currently stand 10th in the 12-team Aviva Premiership. There have been drubbings at the hands of champion Harlequins (40-3) and perennial powerhouse Leicester (38-13) but otherwise the Exiles have kept things closer in the league. "Ive loved every minute of it, to be honest," Mackenzie told The Canadian Press. "Its a great atmosphere here and the chance to play at the highest level week in and week out is what Ive always wanted. Im a very happy camper." The six-foot-one, 213-pound MacKenzie worked his way up the English rugby ranks, playing first for Coventry and then Esher in the second-tier Championship. He scored 12 tries for Esher last season when he was named the teams player of the year by both his teammates and club supporters. "The Championships a really good standard of rugby but I knew that the finer things mattered a lot more in the Premiership, as in the little details of the game. And those are the things that youve really got to focus on. "Thats been really good. I think Ive been improving week in and week out with the coaching stuff weve got here. And the chance to play against some of the best players in the world every week is ideal." "Seems like every weekend youre up against a world-beater," said Mackenzie. Fellow Canadian Jebb Sinclair is also in the Premiership although he has been in South Africa most recently after London Irish loaned the forward to the Stormers and then Western Province. "I actually hung out with Jebb a lot last year because he was just down the road from me," said Mackenzie. "So I understood what he was kind of up to and how things were going for him at Irish." Cracking a Premiership team isnt easy for foreigners. Teams are restricted to two imports on the pitch at any one time. Players from European Union countries dont count as foreigners. Neither do South Africans, thanks to a deal between the two countries rugby unions. Players with EU spouses also avoid the import restrictions. Mackenzie plays his games at Kassam Stadium in Oxford, home of the Oxford United soccer team. His club trains at its longtime home of Old Deer Park in Richmond in suburban London. With London Welsh, Mackenzie has got the chance to line up with mercurial Welsh international Gavin Henson who has made headlines on and off the rugby field. At 30, the former International Rugby Boards Young Player of the Year is on his seventh club team. Away from rugby, Henson was engaged to singer Charlotte Church and made appearances on several reality TV shows, from dancing to dating. "On the pitch I think you always knew he was capable of almost anything. He put in a great pass against Sarries (Saracens) for us to score a really good try a couple of weeks ago that not many players would have been able to do," said Mackenzie. "Hes one of the hardest-working guys here. Theres only positive things to say about him." On the international level, Mackenzie made his debut for Canada in 2008 against Portugal and has won 13 caps, including four at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. He scored twice for Canada at the tournament, standing out also for his orange boots and dyed blond hair. These days Mackenzie is sporting lime green boots. "You always need bright boots as a winger," he said cheerfully. "Youve got to, its a prerequisite. "And then I actually cut my hair recently. I finally got the blond out of it so I just have a high and tight haircut right now with no colour, which is a little boring but well see what happens in the future." Mackenzie is part of the Canadian team slated to play against Samoa, Russia and the New Zealand Maori in November in England. His younger brother Jamie was also a member of Canadas World Cup team, one of 13 sets of brothers who competed at the tournament. Jamie, 23, is currently playing club rugby in Victoria and focusing on finishing his university degree. London Welsh hosts Bath (4-3-0) on Sunday. Wholesale Jerseys . -- The Minnesota Vikings have activated running back Adrian Peterson from the physically unable to perform list Sunday, with coach Leslie Frazier saying Peterson had done everything in his rehab that could be done working by himself. Wholesale NBA Jerseys . The 6-foot-1 Machado played well on the Rockets summer league team, averaging 8.0 points, a team-high 5.6 assists and 2. http://elevatedcolor.com/hot.html . Haas, ranked 290th in the world and playing on a wild card after coming back from injury, will now play either Kevin Anderson or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss the Grey Cup in Toronto, the Canadian national womens soccer team, Alex Anthopoulos and the Toronto Blue Jays and the drama of the NHL lockout.  Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to the Grey Cup and not the game itself. The game itself was a bit of a turkey, but there was a real question as to whether Toronto could include Canada and have a Canadian Grey Cup in the biggest city. This has never been a CFL city. What happened this year was Toronto was a very worthy Grey Cup city and it brought the country together. Cathal Kelly, Toronto Star: My thumb is up to the Canadian national womens soccer team. I think the truly remarkable thing about that team was the bronze medal was great, but what made that special was a loss. It was a loss to the United States, that was the where were you moment of Canadian sport this year and I think that says something nice about us. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is up to Alex Anthopoulos to remaking the Toronto Blue Jays. From the edge of irrelevance, they are now the favourite to win thhe World Series.dddddddddddd The big deal with the Marlines for Reyes and Johnson and Buehrle and then getting R.A. Dickey – what a marvelous coup. Dave Hodge, TSN: Theres little doubt the dreaded NHL lockout has been Canadas no. 1 sports story, and I will happily say "thumbs up" to the latest developments if they represent the beginning of the end of said lockout. Otherwise, I can find only one other reason to say anything good about the lockout, and that was the Broadway-style entertainment it provided, in New York, on the Thursday night of Dec. 6th. That was the time the lockout was ending one minute until a voice-mail message that suggested the season might be ending the next minute.  During an intermission fit for the Gershwin theatre, the audience awaited Bill Dalys delivery of the classic line about the "hill that the league would die on." Earlier, Don Fehr had been calm and his part was brief -- Gary Bettman took to the stage and raged like Lewis Black. For a couple of hours, lockout coverage was riveting. But that was it, and hopefully, well never see it again. Let them revive something else on Broadway next time. ' ' '