Donald's heart lies in New Zealand
Amidst the latest rumours of All Black fly-halves Dan Carter and Nick Evans pondering moves abroad, in-form Chiefs pivot Stephen Donald says he is staying put in New Zealand.
Amidst the latest rumours of All Black fly-halves Dan Carter and Nick Evans pondering moves abroad, in-form Chiefs pivot Stephen Donald says he is staying put in New Zealand.
Carter – still nursing an ankle injury – has been bombarded with lucrative offers from European sides in a bid to lure the number ten out of All Black country, while Evans has also been linked to several clubs overseas.
And while Carter looks increasingly likely to head away once his contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union finishes this year, Donald has no intention to go anywhere.
“My dream is to be an All Black and always has been,” said Donald, the Chiefs' talismanic pivot whose form has soared back to the same giddy heights as his team has in recent weeks.
“I love living in New Zealand, you can't do too much fishing in London and I want to stay here.”
Donald, 24 and well established as a Junior All Black, said he had had overseas holidays and had not been overcome with an overwhelming desire to live and play in another country at this relatively early stage of his playing career.
“I went over to London in November to see my brother and had a couple of weeks over there but cruising around on trains and that just isn't my go,” Donald told the Waikato Times.
“I can't really see myself living in those big cities over there. I'm pretty happy in New Zealand. I mean, who knows, one day I might but not any time soon.
“None of them (overseas clubs) have got my number anyway.”
Donald last Friday cracked a century of points for the season, going to 101 and just two behind individual points leader Carter (Crusaders), while also creating both the Chiefs' tries.
It is all a far cry from his stuttering form and confidence earlier in the season when he struggled in a number of areas of his game, including battling for rhythm with his goal-kicking.
“The confidence is now there and for me I know when I'm enjoying it I'm excited about Saturdays,” said Donald.
“When you're not playing well you're a wee bit apprehensive I guess, but I'm excited every time I run out there at the moment.
“I guess the confidence is well and truly back.”
The goal-kicking rhythm has also seemed to go hand in hand with his general confidence, an area that was suffering in the first four rounds.
“Although it was pretty grim there at the start, I always knew it was going to click and happen at some stage,” he said.
The Chiefs have now played six and won three, have the same number of points (27) as the fourth-placed Stormers and are the second highest try-scoring side behind the Crusaders, whom they beat 18-5 last weekend at Waikato Stadium.
Donald believes two gutsy wins earlier in the season can be thanked for enabling the Chiefs to now be in with a shot at making their second Super Rugby semi-final.
He knows that but for those narrow successes it could easily have become another fruitless strong finish to the season.
“It was another slow start but I guess this time we managed to pick up a couple of wins when we were still playing fairly poorly,” said Donald.
“When I think of the Waratahs (20-17) and the Cheetahs (22-20), we still managed to win those games when in the past we would have lost them and had a 0-6 start again.”