Rugby: 'Beaver' in Bath makes fine sequel

Stephen Donald. Photo / Getty Images

The Stephen Donald sequel begins tomorrow morning when his new Bath side play away against Glasgow in the Heineken Cup.

The three-season long "Beaver in Bath" production might earn more than any New Zealand Rugby Union arrangement but it is unlikely to have the same box office impact as "Beaver hoists Bill", a yarn so preposterously full of goodwill it would normally only be commissioned by Disney.

From whitebaiting with mates to ignoring private number calls from the selectors; to taking the field against France and kicking the match-winning penalty for the Webb Ellis Cup, it is the feel-good sports story of the year - and perhaps a rugby generation.

The once maligned Donald can cherish the spoils of the last three weeks forever. Adding to the legend has been the way the man known as "Beaver" dealt with his sudden return to national prominence.

While there will always be New Zealand nostalgia for what Donald did at Eden Park on October 23, the man has moved on. Behind the modesty he must know he will never disappear into rugby obscurity so, as he told the Herald on Sunday after a week at Bath, it is business again now as he prepares to debut from the bench.

"It's been a full-on week. I've done some big hours from 7.30am to 5.30pm most days so there has not been much of a chance to feel jet-lagged.

"I will always remember those three or four days of the final and beyond, I can replay it vividly in my head; it was a once in a lifetime scenario. But I have to move on quickly into this new environment, I've got to earn these guys' respect because they won't be caring too much about the World Cup.

"I don't think the World Cup's changed me too much. There was a fair bit on it, the country was into it, but it hasn't really dawned on me what we achieved. It probably will in years to come when I'm a fat, old bugger."

Such droll touches earn Donald a revered public status. The average Kiwi can relate to him. It was demonstrated when he returned home in the aftermath and found his home town Waiuku named Beaverville, his local rugby club rebranded Beaver Park and the local newspaper printed as The Beaverville and Districts Post.

However, the Bath club who signed Donald before his new found fame have been more than accommodating in the first week. Donald's main impression has been his introduction to their recently refurbished base, Farleigh House, a heritage building surrounded by practice fields, one of which is an all-weather artificial.

"Their base is insane; they've got new facilities where the money has just poured in. There's even a fulltime chef who puts up a decent spread every day for lunch. She's a far cry from the Waikato," Donald laughs.

There's even talk Donald might end up in the kitchen to knock up a whitebait fritter after Bath and England back Dan Hipkiss was filmed as a wannabe chef making steak tartare on the club's website.

Donald has not signed away the film rights to his life as yet and has also played down rumours he is being sussed out for a cameo in the club's annual Christmas pantomime.

"But I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the finer points of my contract," he says.