All Blacks: Donald the ace in Henry's hand

Graham Henry had dismissed as a romantic hope Stephen Donald's assurance that he would be fit for Saturday. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Nothing much surprises Graham Henry. At 63, he has experienced most things the rugby world can throw at him.

But when the message came through that first five-eighths Stephen Donald was fit for the opening Bledisloe Cup test, Henry was astounded and relieved. The coach had been working on the assumption that Donald would only recover from his hamstring troubles for the next offshore test against the Springboks.

Henry had been sorting through his other options - Luke McAlister, Piri Weepu or Stephen Brett at the national training camp. It was a struggle.

McAlister's back was playing up and he had missed club rugby, Weepu was a modern-day Ian "Nectar" Stevens while Brett had only just come off Junior All Black duty.

"At one stage we were thinking where do we go," Henry confessed yesterday.

The five eighths had been telling Henry he would recover but the coach dismissed that as a romantic hope.

So did the Wallabies in their test preparation across the Ditch, where they spent the bulk of their time analysing McAlister and preparing to combat his style. They were staggered when Donald made the lineup but offered the appropriate reaction.

"We fully anticipated they would go for Stephen Donald if he was fit, simply because he has a background in that role," Wallaby coach Robbie Deans said. "It is more to do with him being accustomed to playing at 10 whereas [McAlister] lacks that background."

Donald's selection will also surprise readers of the latest NZ Rugby World magazine, whose cover picture and "The Weakest Link' strapline this week was all about Donald and whether he was the answer to the five eighths woes.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks revealed their side which reclaimed Sitiveni Sivivatu, Conrad Smith, Donald, Rodney So'oialo, Richie McCaw and Andrew Hore from injury, chose Cory Jane to replace the out-of-form Joe Rokocoko and made several alterations in the reserves.

The return of the senior group will ramp up the side's direction and Donald should benefit from that noise and experience. Cowan kept the starting halfback job in a close call ahead of Leonard, after showing last year at Eden Park how combative he was as the All Blacks turned up the heat on the Wallabies.

Jane was in form and showing an allround game while Sivivatu was a special act. He expressed himself well, teammates feel comfortable with him and he created some magic and was in shape after his shoulder troubles.

The selectors were confident McCaw would last the match in his return from knee problems, assured enough not to have any specialist backup on the bench.

"He has trained well and had a couple of games and he is confident he will go 80 and I am confident he has the mental aptitude to do that as well," forwards coach Steve Hansen said.

"He is our leader and we want him on the park."

The discussion then swung back to Donald and his work in his 11 tests. Henry admitted his fitness clearance came as a pleasant shock.

Donald had held up well in dreadful conditions against France in Wellington, he was a heady footballer who never gave less than 100 per cent. He had improved this season with the Chiefs and taken them to the Super 14 final and given time, could emulate that progress at international level.

That experience as a specialist first five-eighths counted when the selectors weighed up his merits against McAlister, who had been restricted by injury to one test since his return.

"One game in recent times would be spinning the dice a bit," said Henry. "You have just got to be a bit pragmatic and make the sensible decision."

* Eden Park, Auckland, Saturday, 7.30pm

ALL BLACKS

Mils Muliaina
Cory Jane
Conrad Smith
Ma'a Nonu
Sitiveni Sivivatu
Stephen Donald
Jimmy Cowan
Rodney So'oialo
Richie McCaw (c)
Jerome Kaino
Isaac Ross
Brad Thorn
Neemia Tialata
Andrew Hore
Tony Woodcock

AUSTRALIA

A. Ashley-Cooper
Lachie Turner
Stirling Mortlock
Berrick Barnes
Drew Mitchell
Matt Giteau
Luke Burgess
Wycliff Palu
George Smith
Richard Brown
Nathan Sharpe
James Horwill
Al Baxter
Stephen Moore
Benn Robinson

Reserves:

All Blacks: Keven Mealamu, Owen Franks, Jason Eaton, Kieran Read, Piri Weepu, Luke McAlister, Joe Rokocoko.

Australia: Tatafu Polota-Nau, Ben Alexander, Dean Mumm, Phil Waugh, David Pocock, Will Genia, James O'Connor.