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Leon MacDonald

It was a time for Leon MacDonald to go and rest his head. He'd danced with the stars once too often.

His one-year stint to Iwata for Japanese club Yamaha gave this versatile player a chance to recharge, to rediscover his love for the game.

The rugby over there wasn't so intense. He was two hours out of Tokyo. He could rest a little, sift around sushi bars, hang out with wife Hayley and their two children.

He could put to rest once and for all the theories from armchair doctors that he had received one knock too many to the swede.

In the space of one year he was knocked out three times.

The first, in April 2002, came when he banged heads with Corne Krige in a Super 12 match.

Against Fiji soon after he was carried from Westpac Stadium on a stretcher following a sickening head clash.

In August 2002 he was again concussed in a test at Durban, forcing him to miss the end-of-season All Black Northern Hemisphere tour.

As late as the 2003 Super 12 final it was feared he was concussed again after another collision.

Hayley, in a magazine interview in 2003, said that MacDonald showed a tendency then to "forget things", including buildings he grew up near in Blenheim.

He left all that behind when he headed off-shore, just 26 years old. Many go to Japan never to be heard of again.

Not MacDonald, he came back - "the lure of an All Black jersey was too much" - and slotted in at fullback for the Super 12-winning Crusaders. A few months later and he's a key figure in Graham Henry's squad, cemented last Saturday when he scored a try against the Lions to ensure the NZ Maori won their first game ever over the tourists.

"When I left I think my body was still giving me a little bit [of trouble]. Japan gave me a good chance to get away, the rugby wasn't so hard so it gave me a chance to freshen up."

Japan also gave him the chance to play at first five-eighths. And from there he goal-kicked, he goal-kicked well and won pressure games for his club. Isn't that a relief?

Yes, Leon MacDonald has been asked to sharpen his boot. It's little wonder considering Aaron Mauger's efforts against Fiji last week. He slotted just three from seven. Can't be having that against the Lions.

"I was kicking well over there [Japan]. I was getting them over and that really helps your confidence.

"At the moment I don't feel like I need a total re-haul of my goal-kicking. I just need to keep chipping away at it.

"The one area of the game I want to work on is punting so Mick [ABs kick-catch coach Mick Byrne] will be useful for that."

The All Black selectors have gambled that Daniel Carter will remain fit throughout this three-test series and have resisted picking any specialist replacements.

But an injured Carter would surely mean Mauger or MacDonald would step in. How does he feel about playing at No 10?

"[Wayne] Smithy picked me back in 97 for the Crusaders at No 10... he obviously has faith in me at that position. I played it in Japan - I'd be catching the ball from halfback and making the calls so sliding up there wouldn't feel that foreign to me."

Sport has never been foreign to this Blenheim boy. In rugby alone, he's leap-frogged from first-five to second-five, to fullback and, of course, an ill-fated stint at centre in the 2003 World Cup. Enough said.

MacDonald's from a prominent rugby family, several of the clan have played for either the Maori or Marlborough.

And if MacDonald hadn't chosen rugby he could have been just as handy on the cricket pitch.

If you think kicking goals for the All Blacks against the Lions spells pressure, it can't be anything compared to having to bat to win what was known as the Hawke Cup for Marlborough against Manawatu.

The South Islanders had already secured first innings points and just needed to hold out in their second innings to take the storied cup from Palmerston North to Blenheim.

The only problem was they were nine down with plenty of time left and a 15-year-old was at the crease. Despite incessant sledging, the 15-year-old Leon MacDonald managed to hold out.

He's anticipating a different sort of pressure from the Lions.

Even 12 years on, there's noneed to talk to MacDonald about pressure.

"We're expecting to get peppered with the high ball.

"All their number 10s are good tactical kickers, they've shown that one of their best weapons is to put cross kicks across to wingers." 

 - HERALD ON SUNDAY