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THE POST NEWSPAPER, MARCH 11, 2014
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Who will be King? IS WEEKEND PREMIER RUGBY KICKS OFF TH
Donald recovering before new Japanese season By Nigel Ward
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It’s a long way from the stadiums of New Zealand, Europe and Japan to a couch in Waiuku, but that’s where we found All Black World Cup icon Stephen Donald last week as he recovers from surgery ahead of the new Japanese season. In typically laconic Donald style, he describes the operation as ‘having his hips cleaned up’. The actual operation was to remove bone spurs and repair a labral tear, and will require around six to seven weeks on crutches. Stephen says he expects to be back playing for Mitsubishi in the Japanese competition by the start of the season in late August, where he has a year left to run on his contract. He’s hoping the combination of the operation and the less-physical nature of the Japanese game will mean he can extend his professional career for another few years, but has already an eye on the future, having completed a Bachelor of Business degree recently. It’s an indication of the globe-trotting lifestyle of today’s professional footballers that he started his degree at Waikato University while with the Chiefs, then crosscredited his papers to Newcastle University while he was playing for English club Bath, and then completed the degree by correspondence while in Japan. He’s also picked up a bit of the Japanese language, although laughs that after being back in New Zealand for a while he’s probably forgotten it and will be back to square one. “I tried it out at a sushi restaurant last week, and it didn’t work,” he says with a grin. He’s notorious for being an intensely private person, and is reluctant to do interviews,
let along photographs, but I’ve got to ask him about the forthcoming movie ‘The Kick’ which details the moments leading up to that fateful goal which won the World Cup. As one report said: “The Kick looks at events through the eyes of Stephen Donald, who missed out on selection for the Rugby World Cup squad and went white baiting with his best mate instead, only to get a call at the eleventh hour.” Asked about the portrayal of himself in the movie, Stephen says it’s a movie - not a documentary, and whatever comes out is whatever direction the film-makers choose to take. He didn’t spend a heap of time detailing his kicking style to actor David de Lautour, (who plays him in the film), saying that he’s basically had one beer with him and that’s it. As to the experience of having part of his life portrayed in a film, Stephen says it’s “pretty outrageous from my point of view.” Of course, the fact that someone is making a movie based around one kick brings up the fact that mention of Stephen Donald
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always brings mention of THAT game. I ask whether, given his many achievements in rugby, whether being defined by one moment among many is annoying. “I wouldn’t say annoying,” he says, mulling it over, “I mean, if you’re going to be defined by one game, then a World Cup final’s probably the right one to pick. It’s not something I personally think about, but people that don’t know you, that’s what they invariably talk about.” So what other moments rank up there? “Well, obviously that (the World Cup) was the big glory moment, but there’s been lots of other moments that have been pretty cool. I’m proud of it, but personally, probably no more prouder than I was when we won a club championship with Waiuku, or winning the NPC with Waikato, or the first Counties-Manukau title with the Waiuku College First XV for the first time, especially because I did those things with my best mates.” Those World Cup moments opened doors though. “It was life changing in a lot of ways, around how I
was viewed (in professional rugby),” he says. It led him to Europe, and then to Japan, where he’s playing “some of the quickest rugby I’ve ever played,” although the hits are not as hard as in New Zealand. “I can wake up in the morning and feel like playing another game of rugby, instead of feeling like I’ve been in a car accident. It’s still fast and furious, but it’s a lot easier on the shoulders and back.”] Having friends around adds to the experience of playing in Japan, with great mate Richard Kahui just 20 metres down the road, and Waikato team-mates David Hill and Steven Bates also playing in the Japanese league. There’s a chance to catch up and go fishing every now and then, plus play a bit of golf around the match schedule, which is around three games every four weeks. It’s a very different playing environment as well, with huge stadiums but crowds of only a few hundred people as the Japanese corporate sides battle it out with their teams for bragging rights. Continued next page.
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