Angus Macdonald not one to be overlooked

By DAVID LEGGAT

If Angus Macdonald was the jealous type he'd be doing a fair bit of grumbling about now.

Here he is slaving away in the heart of an Auckland pack preparing for the NPC first division final against Wellington, and to hear the buzz you'd think the backs had done it all themselves.

For sure, 32 of Auckland's 44 tries have come from the backs, but as any old salt of the pack will remind you, someone's got to get them the ball first.

Every team needs its glue, the players who don't necessarily grab the headlines but are invaluable.

Indeed, this is a line you'll often hear about the present All Black captain.

Auckland coach Wayne Pivac is unstinting in his praise of the man who will be at blindside flanker tomorrow night, but whose athletic gifts have been used at lock as well.

"I think he's a great player. He covers two positions for us, he has fantastic fitness levels and he goes and goes for 80 minutes.

"Really he's one of our unsung heroes and every side needs one or two of those. He's a very good leader, a future captain of Auckland in my book."

There's no question the amiable Macdonald - son of All Black lock Hamish, who played 48 games, including 12 tests from 1972-76 - is in the All Black selector's minds.

He got the call to join a pre-World Cup training camp in Nelson so that must have been ...

"Yeah, a real confidence booster. It was great seeing where the All Blacks were at and getting into that environment and learn a few things."

Macdonald has made big strides this year. He was in the Blues Super 12-winning team, got a nod and a wink from the All Black selectors, helped Auckland lift the Ranfurly Shield in a belter of a game at Jade Stadium and is now within 80 minutes of completing a remarkable trifecta in the Air New Zealand-sponsored NPC.

So what's been the secret for a team who lost three of their first four NPC games this year?

"At the start we all knew, looking at the players in our team, we could play an expansive game.

"But I think it was the self belief, that we could do it as a team. That's the difference."

The key to Macdonald's game is allround athletic talent - Pivac talks of his terrific ability as a lineout leaper. But ask his father, a straightforward rugged lock in an era of hard All Black forwards, how his game could be improved and the son knows the answer.

"I hear I'm still too soft. I hear that every week," he grinned.

Macdonald grew up on the family farm 40 minutes from Dargaville so getting to the big games was not always an option. But there was always the odd story from dad about life as an All Black to stir the appetite.

Not that Hamish Macdonald is from the "in my day" school. Advice was sought and given when needed, but never in an overbearing way.

Now, "he tends to sit back and watch things from a bit further away".

Angus moved south to attend King's College at 14 and is now well settled in the big smoke. The family are all in Auckland.

Auckland and Wellington turned in a feast of points in their round robin game at Eden Park, 46-42 to the visitors, six tries apiece, all the fun of the fair.

It is perceived wisdom that won't happen again. Then again, these teams have averaged a tick under nine tries a game between them through the NPC round robin.

"Both teams have a crack and there are attacking options right round the field. Wellington play a very expansive game and they can really hurt you if you make a mistake," Macdonald said.

Although there is talk of a trifecta, you won't hear much coming from the Auckland players. Tempting fate and all that.

"There's always things you could say; we've got this or that.

"But in the team environment we're just concentrating purely on Wellington this weekend, and I think the boys have done that well."

Angus Macdonald

Born: Whangarei, January 12, 1981

Height: 1.94m

Weight: 107kg

Position: Blindside flanker/lock

NPC team: Auckland, 19 games

Super 12: Blues, debut this year, 12 games

Age group: New Zealand under 16, under 19, secondary schools, Colts

All Black link: Father Hamish and uncle Doug Bruce both played tests.

NPC points table