All Blacks: Donald braced for Bok barrage

Stephen Donald is a solid player who doesn't shirk on attack or defence. Photo / Richard Robinson

Stephen Donald's switch to the All Black midfield comes with great faith from another Mooloo man who coped with the same change at test level.

The game was very different when Murray Taylor played in the late 1970s in both five-eighths roles, but he felt Donald had the skills to deal with his midfield battle today with the Boks.

"It could be the making of him," said Taylor, who received his All Black cap at a ceremony last night.

"I have wondered why we do not try left and right options with Daniel Carter and Donald. They have the skills to make it happen and that was the way I liked to play too."

Taylor, whose younger brother Warwick also became an All Black, said both five-eighths had to have completely different mindsets in his playing days. But with the radical changes in the modern game, there was no reason those roles could not be interchangeable.

He was sure old mate Wayne Smith, as an astute coach and analyst of the game, would devise creative ways to use the attacking and kicking games of both Carter and Donald.

Donald has played in the 12 jersey for his former Counties union, but it was only briefly and six years ago.

Now he will work in tandem with Carter in a role-reversal of the partnership they had against the Wallabies last year in Hong Kong.

The 25-year-old Donald never imagined he would be in an All Black midfield, let alone in a game of such significance as today's test against the Springboks. Not only will he have to get used to the nuances of test rugby in a different position, ultra quickly, he will also be defending against Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie.

But Donald is a bloke cut from very practical cloth, someone who has a solid temperament and copes well with crises. He probably reasons he would not be used unless the selectors had faith in him and that his change of duty is a golden chance to show another side to his game.

Donald will not shirk any challenges. He has shown a willingness to attack the line and to cope with the defensive demands of test rugby.

"I think most games they send their big boys hurtling down the inside channels," he said of the Boks. "So it'll be no different, and I guess the fact that I'm probably a bit green at 12 means they'll have a lick there early."

Donald will be ready early, or he should be. All his antennae will be wired to making a strong start.

His instincts are attuned to handle the various roles at first five-eighths. He will have been reprogrammed, but the trick will be minimising the times he has to think through his duties instead of just acting.

This will be Donald's 16th test, but his first on Waikato Stadium and in an unaccustomed role.

But he does not foresee too many problems because the All Blacks often have interchangeable roles during phase play, depending on who might be caught in a ruck or in another part of the field. As ever, Donald is practical about the pressure.

"It's a test match and that's about the guts of it," he said this week. Enough said.