Beaver's big kick draws in 361,500 TV viewers

Kiwi David de Lautour played World Cup-winning All Black Stephen Donald in the telemovie.

More than 350,000 people tuned in to relive one of the All Blacks' finest hours on Sunday night.

The Kick, a telemovie that screened on TV One, was based around the extraordinary run of injuries during the 2011 Rugby World Cup that led to Stephen Donald being called away from a whitebaiting trip to play off the bench in the final.

It attracted 361,500 viewers, according to global information measurement company Nielsen.

In the game at Eden Park, the All Blacks beat France 8-7 after the man nicknamed "Beaver" came on for an injured Aaron Cruden and slotted a penalty goal to add to a Tony Woodcock try. The kick became the match-winner as the French could manage only a converted try in reply.

The homegrown drama, which received $2.8 million in funding from NZ On Air last year, won the Sunday night free-to-air ratings battle ahead of TV2's What To Expect When You're Expecting, which drew 221,200 viewers.

A special screening of the film was held at Donald's rugby club in Waiuku on Sunday night. Club president Maurice Brighouse said Donald did not want to make a fuss.

"He said it's quite a good depiction of what sort of went on. He's pretty pleased with it."

Donald and his family, who are still involved with the Waiuku Rugby Club, were not at the viewing, Mr Brighouse said. "He's a modest guy, he likes to keep his head down. It just goes with his demeanour."

Donald, who still plays rugby in Japan, had been in Waiuku for the past couple of weeks, he said.