Iconic World Cup images: 2011

Stephen Donald watches as his penalty dissects the uprights. Photo / Ron Burgin

All the anguish then all the glory delivered a World Cup movie starring Stephen Donald, the Beaver who laid down his white-baiting nets to kick the All Blacks to their 2011 triumph.

It's a rich segment in New Zealand rugby folklore as the first-five who missed the initial selection cut then ignored crisis phone calls from coach Graham Henry, came off the bench in his tight-fitting jersey to nail the victory.

Not that he knew it when he succeeded with his solitary attempt after Piri Weepu had missed his three shots.

Donald had been on Eden Park for 10 minutes for the injured Aaron Cruden when referee Craig Joubert awarded the All Blacks a penalty 35m out in front of the French goalposts.

The five-eighths grabbed the ball in his left hand and strode to the mark. The man with No 21 on his jersey was confident he could deliver in his first and last World Cup test.

"Physically I wasn't as well-prepared as I could have been but mentally I was fine, I was fresh," he said.

Donald measured out his run, sighted the posts again, moved in and kept his head down through the strike.

"I genuinely didn't see it. I thought it came off the boot well. Usually they shape the other way, but it shaped to the right, I got told later that night. But yeah, I was well and truly on my sprint back to position so I didn't see it," he said.

Donald thought he might get a few minutes towards the end if the All Blacks nailed the victory rather than 47 minutes of stoic defence, grit and a golden penalty after Cruden damaged his knee.

"That's probably the thing I'm most proud of, being part of that defensive effort," he said. "If it had come easy, would it have meant as much? I don't know. It probably would have because it's the World Cup final, but ... it seemed like a training run - tackling, tackling, tackling.

"I'm glad I haven't made that many tackles since. I was in a bad way as far as my lungs were concerned. I remember dry retching a few times, thinking, 'Jeez, how long have we got to go?' But luckily we hung in there."