Late Tackle: Stephen Donald on the Springbok resurgence and becoming a mentor
Stephen Donald, who famously kicked New Zealand to the 2011 World Cup title after joining the squad before the semi-finals, believes the Springboks are back.
Donald, who is currently plying his trade in Japan’s Top League with the Green Rockets, stills plays an active role with some of the young members of the All Blacks squad and opened up about how those players felt following their shock defeat in Wellington.
“I sort of took on a mentorship role with some of the young All Blacks, so I look after a couple of the young boys there,” Donald said.
“A few of them were a bit down after Wellington [Springboks defeated the All Blacks 36-34] and I rang them up and said ‘Mate, it’s great that you got to experience that because when a South African team is firing like that, there’s nothing tougher that you are ever going to have to face.
“I just think it’s great for those [All Blacks] boys to have experienced it and they came through the other side of it. I’ve always said, the South African teams tests your manhood and tests your character.
“So, I think it’s great that they [Springboks] are back. Obviously, Rassie has turned them around a bit and I just hope it’s here to stay. It looks like they are on the right path for the 2019 World Cup,” he added.
Listen to what Stephen Donald has to say about the Springboks and more below:
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Let’s see how the 6N goes, ireland weren’t looking too clever in the AIs and quite a few of their key players are reaching the back end of their careers. If they win the tournament then no doubt they will form the cornerstone of the squad. If England or Scotland manage to prevail against them, then different story.
Go to commentsWhile I do not believe Havili is big enough or powerful enough to play in the midfield at test level, he is an outstanding Super Rugby player at 12 and 15 when healthy and obviously is very respected throughout the Crusaders and a good choice for captain.
Codie Taylor's goal is to remain a world class level hooker up to and including the RWC 2027. To accomplish this, he must be carefully managed and maybe only needs to play 9-10 of 14 regular season matches in Super Rugby (and a similar number for All Blacks) to reach the RWC. So Taylor would not be an ideal choice as captain for the Crusaders at this point in his career.
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