If it weren’t for the impeccable form of Piri Weepu, the All Blacks would be in deep New Zealand made yoghurt right now. Our worst nightmare realised a week ago with the unjust extraction of Dan Carter with a torn left adductor.
And then his disabled replacement Colin Slade ruled out yesterday with… a torn left adductor. Freaky.
What are the chances Aaron Cruden straps his left adductor this weekend as pure precaution?
But what comes next is the most frightening thought. That the hopes and dreams of 4-million Kiwi’s could come down to one Stephen Donald.
Not even the most discerning and insightful All Black commentator saw that coming. Including NZ Herald’s Chris Rattue, who named Donald as his No 10 in the Worst XV of King Henry’s Reign.
So mid-morning the Twittersphere went into overdrive with leaked news of the pending announcement, that the man Kiwi’s love to hate has been freshly anointed by the said coach, King Henry.
Monday madness I thought. What kind of ‘sicko’ dares introduce Waikato’s womble into a sentence featuring the hallowed words, Rugby World Cup? As it transpired, that sicko was indeed, King Henry.
The All Blacks rolled out Donald’s old coach Ian Foster to sing Stephen’s praises. A futile attempt to front-foot Donald’s announcement.
“Stephen’s got the character” Foster said. “He has taken a lot of crap unjustifiably” Foster said. Probably right on both counts.
But can the man play grand final rugby? That question remained unanswered. Not even Foster would put his neck on the line for Stephen on that one.
Donald saw the NZRU writing on the wall this year. Primarily two words, bugger off!
So he cut a track to Bath of Britain where they signed him up for three whole years as a player/mentor. No coming back from that kind of arrangement. Well, theoretically anyway.
But theory never factored in the curse of the left adductor. And now Stephen is front and centre, only a matter of days away from pulling on the skin-tight, white tipped All Black jersey. Meaning hopefully Donald hasn’t be hoeing into the donuts at Bath. We’ll soon know if he has.
So here’s where I put my neck on the line. Donald is a quality footballer, a fierce competitor. If he gets to take the field (and he probably will based on the current trend), he’ll front up.
Sure, Donald has made some epic stuff-ups in the heat of battle. But that’s exactly why he is a prime candidate to do the right things in the sudden-death stages of this tournament.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying Stephen Donald is our knight in shining armor. But the least we can do is cut the man some slack and back him the same way we’ve backed the others.
He might even surprise us. Including the 3393 dedicated members of a Facebook community page titled, “I Swear Stephen Donald Can’t Play!”
Rich Muhlach
Guest
it happened.. and he kicked the winning penalty goal
Rod Jenkin
Guest
Seems like a pretty good article now!....
guinness14
Guest
me to, Donald over Coop's. hehehe.
Matt
Guest
Nick Evans?
allblackfan
Guest
We got no choice so we have to like him. What Cruden and Donald bring to the game is a more instinctive attack. Carter was a measured thinker, which is why he is so good overall. But the French could read some of his plays and picked up a intercept try off him. Cruden and Donald will change the dynamics of that midfield; suddenly the Wallabies form guide on the ABs is looking a little outdated! By necessity, the ABs are now rotating their lineup from game to game. If McCabe plays then he becomes something of a weak link; his shoulder is still dodgy. The Wallabies can only move their dodgy defenders around so much and on the field there is no place to hide. If anything happens to Pocock. I'm sure the Pumas have taught the ABs a few tricks about neutralising scavenging forwards (a la Pocock) so in that regard they may have done the ABs a favour!
2many1ndians
Roar Rookie
Correction, used to play for the Chiefs. Aaron Cruden is the Chiefs 1st five 2012 and beyond.
Damien
Roar Guru
Chris Rattue is probably not the best reporter to quote to support your Donald argument. He's entertaining but he also named Nonu as the worst 12 to wear the Black jersey under Henry and called for the AB's to forget their selection policy and get Carl Hayman, who turned out warming the bench in France behind a Georgian prop.
mactheblack
Guest
If Cruden goes out injured ... Donald slots in at flyhalf and Weepu takes over at pivot. Donald will be safer option just clearing the ball out of the scrum than orchestrating the moves at flyhalf. Seeing that most of you are panicking ... how about Carter on one leg? C'mon give Duck a break. Rather him than Slade.
Chuck
Guest
I am reading all the comments and having a great laugh, do any of you really believe Donald will actually get any game time? The only way this bloke will get on the field is if Cruden or Weepu go down injured or the game is well and truly in the bag.
Mike
Guest
He is not maligned. Kiwis call him "the Duck" in hushed respectful tones. i have heard this. They even have a motto: "Fear the Duck".
thesportsguy
Guest
LOL. somewhat agree?!
Frank O'Keeffe
Guest
Fox Sports just replayed the Hong Kong Test where Donald came on in the last 20 minutes. Man that performance ages well. It's even worse when you watch it in replay. I had totally forgotten that Donald missed a touch finder in the 80th minute. It wasn't just a missed penalty (an easy kick), there was other glorious stuff too. I also forgot how badly Beale outplayed Mils. He burns him off a couple of times in that game. Beale's last counter attack, he bounces three times and leaves Mils for dead.
Mungehead
Guest
I didn't have to be clairvoyant to know that Slade was as green as fresh-mown grass though. A lot of time and effort has been spent trying to bring Slade up to speed and now it's all in vain. Cruden is not my favourite either, but he was more ready to go up a level than Slade has been. In a year or two, sure, Slade is the future, but not right now. I hope you're right about Cruden, I have some doubts about him too. I don't remember him being tested against really hard opposition, and as we know well, there is a big difference between npc form, super form and test form. In fact Slade only got the call-up ahead of Cruden when Cruden's form dipped a bit, which doesn't bode well.
Mungehead
Guest
He's an ex-All Black first five, plays for the Chiefs, been used a few times, mostly condemned for throwing away the Hong Kong match you beat us in via some out-and-out brain explosions. But he's been Carter's backup for a while, behind daylight and daylight but still ahead of the rest. Admittedly that was before Cruden and Slade came along, but some of us are still sceptical of those Johnny-come-latelys. Too many words, you'll just have to stretch yourself.
zhenry
Guest
"..Sure, Donald has made some epic stuff-ups in the heat of battle. But that’s exactly why he is a prime candidate to do the right things in the sudden-death stages of this tournament.." I would have thought thats why he ain't. Some one above said Weepu and Cowan/Ellis, yes that's better, I think I would have to turn the TV off if Donald came on. Brown, Berquist why not. Weepu played superbly against Argentina, no worries if he can keep that up.
Weka
Guest
loooooool
RebelsRanger
Guest
Well he is a better defender than Cooper and has a better backline so hopefully he goes well.. hopefully
Michael Clark
Guest
Actually, Cruden is a good defender. He's not big but he doesn't lack guts or commitment.
RebelsRanger
Guest
Cruden is faster than both of them..
daws
Guest
From an uninformed Aussie, in 25 words or less who is Stephen Donald and why is he so maligned?