Rugby publishing is full of the success
stories of the game, all those golden contributors to memories of deeds past.
Given the nature of All Blacks' success
there are any number of examples over the past 50 years.
Stephen Donald's story 'Beaver' is a little
different and while it has as its obvious high point the penalty goal that
proved to be the match-winner in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final, a story
subsequently retold in a television docu-drama, there is plenty on the down
moments in top sport.
Probably no New Zealand sportsman since
Mark Richardson's tell-all 'Thinking Negatively' about the psychological
demands of top cricket has talked so frankly about the less attractive side of
sport.
In Donald's case it was the loss to
Australia in Hong Kong in 2010.
The story is well-known. Donald missed a 76th
minute shot at goal that would have put the lead out to eight points. Then a
turnover ball needed to be kicked to touch to save the game. Donald kicked, the
ball didn't go out, Australia ran it back and James O'Connor scored.
Donald took the loss hard, and he became a
target for the all-knowing talkback radio brigade who enjoyed the luxury of
anonymity in making him their scapegoat.
The rest of the tour became arduous for
Donald, and it got worse when returning to New Zealand and into the start of
the next Super Rugby season, which happened to be the prelude to the 2011 Rugby
World Cup in New Zealand. The public slanging was everywhere.
With Aaron Cruden and Colin Slade emerging
as first five-eighths of ability, the result was that Donald slipped to fourth
on the list with Dan Carter sitting on top.
It is easy to think in these days of
triumph for the All Blacks on the international scene that all is rosy and life
is continually good for the participants. But these are humans who are involved
and not everyone reacts to pressure of performance in the same way.
Donald describes how tough it was and it is
clear that he didn't help himself in some regards on the social side and it was
hardly surprising that when the World Cup started without his involvement that
he wanted nothing to do with it.
What happened then as Carter, Slade and
Cruden all succumbed to injuries, Cruden going off before half-time in the
final, and Donald came from his whitebait stand onto the centrestage at Eden
Park is part of folklore.
That was a triumph of the will after all
the frustrations, but there was more to come. Again, there are lessons to be
had for young players heading off overseas to pursue their rugby careers.
Donald clearly had second thoughts about travelling to British club Bath and
that carried through to his involvement.
His words are salutary: "I struggled
with almost every aspect of Premiership life. I struggled with the mentality
that playing rugby was a job, not a pleasure. I struggled with coaches who
wanted me to kick every time we found ourselves in our own half. I struggled
with the ruthlessness of club administrators, and the revolving door for
coaches and for players.
"I struggled with newspaper headlines
that claimed I had been told by the CEO to lift my game, when no such
conversation had taken place. Yeah, I most assuredly struggled with that. I
struggled with games on Christmas Eve and New Year's Day, and with kicking
coaches who tried to change my technique…Most of all thought I struggled with
my own discipline. Bath had its own way of doing things and, having accepted
their offer to play their, I should have been more professional in how I
approached that time. I tried to buy into it all, I really did, but to play
well for a team, you have to believe in that team. There was no culture for me
to invest in. Rightly or wrongly, that's how I felt almost the entire time I
was there."
Food for thought if ever there was.
Rehabilitation has been achieved. Who will
forget his contribution to the Chiefs' win over woeful Wales in 2016? But he
has continued with the franchise and with Counties Manukau.
For all that may yet happen in his career,
telling his story may be one of the most useful aspects of it, and certainly
making clear some of the pitfalls that can befall players.
'Beaver' by Stephen Donald with Scotty
Stevenson. Published by Upstart Press
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