Wynne Gray: The long road back to black for Donald

Stephen Donald's impressive form in the ITM Cup was hard to ignore by the All Black coaches. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

It took Stephen Donald seven tests before he graduated from the subs bench to wear the All Black No 10 jersey.

That day in Hong Kong two years ago, Donald started the test against the Wallabies with Daniel Carter outside him as a second pivot. It was an idea which did not quite gel and Donald was subbed soon after halftime and the All Blacks reverted to their regular Carter-Ma'a Nonu axis.

Unless Carter makes some powerful progress from his ankle injury in the next week or so, Donald looks as though he will direct the All Black backline once more next Saturday against the Wallabies in Hong Kong.

His selection for the tour must have been lineball as Donald himself thought he had run out of time to make an impression after four months out with a chest injury.

But his work in four ITM Cup matches convinced the selectors he was a better choice than Colin Slade, Aaron Cruden or Mike Delany as the tour deputy for Carter.

Donald's form was on an upward curve, according to selector and former national first five-eighths Wayne Smith. He was heavier, at 104kg, than he had been, Smith said, but he was also faster, his passing was strong, his defence had improved and, importantly, he had removed those chip kicks from his game and replaced them with grubbers.

While Donald's selection will provoke debate, at least that shows there were choices, unlike the uncertainty about finding someone to back up Carter when he was first promoted on the 2004 tour to Europe.

On that tour Aaron Mauger was the designated standby, while the next year Luke McAlister and Leon MacDonald were both used though neither was a comfortable fit.

Nick Evans was then brought in to the squad for a season and a half, but never seemed to get the full trust of the selectors, especially in the controversial World Cup quarter-final defeat. Donald entered the frame in 2008 and continued last year before Delany went on the end-of-year tour.

An average Super 14 meant Donald was supplanted by Cruden this season. About that time, Donald was also injured and his way back to the All Blacks looked difficult as Slade later joined Cruden in the squad.

However it was a pointer to some uncertainty that Slade, Anthony Boric, Liam Messam, Benson Stanley and Rene Ranger were the only All Blacks made available for five ITM Cup matches. They were probably seen as marginal choices while Cruden was released for only three games.

Meanwhile, Donald returned for a stint from the bench against Southland, then hummed into action against Tasman, Northland, Otago and Manawatu.

Perhaps it helped that those sides were all in the lower half of the competition, but Donald did stand out. Even so, conventional logic suggested if Carter recovered from his injury, the selectors would persevere with Cruden or Slade as his backup for the game in Hong Kong and the Grand Slam challenge.

But this is also a dry run for the World Cup, and on the evidence of history, goalkicking and his reappearance, Donald has convinced the panel he is the next best behind DC. As for Hosea Gear, Andy Ellis, Messam, Daniel Braid, Boric, John Afoa and Hika Elliot, this tour is the chance for Donald to reinforce that belief and get another tick in the World Cup column.