Stephen Donald

With one swing of his right boot Stephen Donald secured himself a special place in the folklore of New Zealand rugby.

With four minutes gone in the second half of the 2011 World Cup final Donald safely piloted a penalty goal through the posts to give the All Blacks an 8-0 lead over France. It proved to be a crucial score with the All Blacks grimly holding onto an 8-7 score line for the agonizing final 30 minutes of the match.

The World Cup final represented a massive turnaround in fortunes for Donald. A year earlier he had copped a torrent of criticism for his performance in the All Black’s last minute loss to Australia in Hong Kong.

He was not part of the original World Cup squad with Daniel Carter and Colin Slade preferred. When Carter went down with injury it was not Donald but Aaron Cruden who got the call-up. When Slade also succumbed, Donald was back in black. It has become part of New Zealand rugby folklore that Donald was out fishing when he got the news he was back in the All Blacks. It is fair to say the news was not greeted with universal acclaim in New Zealand rugby circles.

With Cruden injured in the first half of the World Cup final Donald was given his chance for redemption, which he duly took.

Stephen ‘Beaver’ Donald first came to prominence in 2001 representing Counties-Manukau while still a student at Wesley College in South Auckland. After three seasons with Counties-Manukau he moved south to Waikato and in 2005 made his Super Rugby debut for the Chiefs. Donald went on to become the Chiefs all-time leading points’ scorer, helping them to the 2009 Super Rugby final against the Bulls.

The All Blacks selectors came knocking for the first time in 2008. Donald made his Test debut with a 10-minute cameo against England in Christchurch. For most of his first season as an All Black he sat on the bench with Daniel Carter steering the All Black ship. Donald got his first Test start against Australia in Hong Kong on the end of year tour and another in the match against Scotland, at Murrayfield.

With Carter injured in 2010, Donald took over with mixed success. New Zealand won only two of the five Tests he started that season and when Carter had recovered from his injury he was immediately reinstated to the All Blacks number ten jersey.

A tall, powerful presence at first five-eighth Donald had a unique punting style and was an accurate goal kicker. He was successful with 75% of his shots at goal in Tests for New Zealand. A feature of his game was his straight running which often enabled his to bust the opposition defensive line close to scrums and rucks.

Donald joined English Club side Bath following Rugby World Cup 2011.