View source for Stephen Donald

{{EngvarB|date=January 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name        = Stephen Donald
| image       = StephenDonald.jpg
| image_size  = 175
| caption     = Donald during the World Cup parade, October 2011
| fullname    = Stephen Rex Donald
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1983|12|03|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Papakura, New Zealand|Papakura]], New Zealand
| height      = {{convert|190|cm|ftin|0|abbr=on}}
| weight      = {{convert|96|kg|lb stlb|0|abbr=on}}
| school      = (1)[[Waiuku|Waiuku College]] (2) [[Wesley College, Auckland|Wesley College]]
| university  = [[University of Waikato]]
| relatives   =
| occupation  = 
| spouse      = 
| position    = [[Fly-half (rugby union)|First five-eighth]], [[Centre (rugby union)|Centre]]
| currentclub = [[NEC Green Rockets]]
| youthyears1 = 
| youthclubs1 = 
| years1      = 2001, 2017
| clubs1      = [[Counties Manukau Rugby Football Union|Counties Manukau]]
| apps1       = 31
| points1     = 203
| years2      = 2004–2016
| clubs2      = [[Waikato Rugby Union|Waikato]]
| apps2       = 60
| points2     = 494
| years3      = 2005–2011
| clubs3      = [[Chiefs (rugby union)|Chiefs]]
| apps3       = 106
| points3     = 886
| years4      = 2011–2013
| clubs4      = [[Bath Rugby|Bath]]
| apps4       = 34
| points4     = 169
| years5      = 2016–2017
| clubs5      = [[Suntory Sungoliath]]
| apps5       = 4
| points5     = 5
| years6      = 2017–2018
| clubs6      = [[Toshiba Brave Lupus]]
| apps6       = 5
| points6     = 5
| years7      = 2018–2019
| clubs7      = [[NEC Green Rockets]]
| apps7       = 11
| points7     = 28
| repyears1   = 2003–2004
| repteam1    = [[New Zealand national under-21 rugby union team|New Zealand U21]]
| repcaps1    = 9
| reppoints1  = 68
| repyears2   = 2005–2007
| repteam2    = [[Junior All Blacks]]
| repcaps2    = 10
| reppoints2  = 69
| repyears3   = 2008–2011
| repteam3    = [[New Zealand national rugby union team|New Zealand]]
| repcaps3    = 25 <!-- Total international tests and matches -->
| reppoints3  = 116 <!-- Total international points -->
| repyears4   = 2010–2011
| repteam4    = [[Barbarian F.C.]]
| repcaps4    = 4
| reppoints4  = 20
| clubupdate  = 6 June 2020
| repupdate   = 6 June 2020 
}}

'''Stephen Rex Donald''' (born 3 December 1983) is a New Zealand [[rugby union]] player who played for the [[Green Rockets Tokatsu|NEC Green Rockets]] in the Japanese Top League. A [[Fly-half (rugby union)|first five-eighth]] or [[Centre (rugby union)|centre]],<ref>{{All Blacks|id=1075|name=Stephen Donald}}</ref> he won 24 international caps for [[New Zealand national rugby union team|New Zealand]]. [[List of sportspeople by nickname#Union|Nicknamed]] 'Beaver', he is best known for kicking the winning penalty in the [[2011 Rugby World Cup final]].

==Background==

Donald grew up in Waiuku where his father was a teacher. He attended Sandspit Road School and Waiuku College. After the Sixth Form year he was given the opportunity to go to Wesley College for his final year. 

He played First five-eighth for the Wesley First XV rugby team, coached by Nick Leger, along with [[Sitiveni Sivivatu]], [[Tame Tupou]], [[Viliame Veikoso]], [[Sailosi Tagicakibau]], [[Ezra Taylor (rugby union)|Ezra Taylor]] and [[Tomasi Soqeta]].

== Domestic career ==
{{BLP sources section|date=June 2020}}

=== Waikato ===
Initially progressing and playing through all levels for the [[Waikato Rugby Union|Waikato]] province in the [[ITM Cup]].

=== Chiefs ===
He then played for the [[Chiefs (Super rugby franchise)|Chiefs]] in the [[Super Rugby]] competition. He would initially play for the franchise from 2005 until 2011.

In 2015, Donald had signed to return to New Zealand to play for [[Waikato Rugby Union|Waikato]] in the [[ITM Cup]]. Donald made his return with [[Waikato Rugby Union|Waikato]] on 10 September 2015 against [[Southland Rugby Football Union|Southland]] at [[Waikato Stadium]], coming on as a substitute.

In June 2016, Donald captained the Chiefs to a dominating win over [[Wales national rugby union team|Wales]]. Although the Welsh were the strong favourites going into the match, Donald had played a 'man of the match' role, dominating his opponents whilst also setting up two tries and perfect goal-kicking percentage which saw the Chiefs beat the Welsh 40–7. Donald also received a standing ovation from the crowd after being subbed in the 68th minute.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/81073679/stephen-donald-winds-back-the-clock-with-vintage-performance-in-victory-over-wales|title=Stephen Donald winds back the clock with vintage performance in victory over Wales|website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] }}</ref> Donald was controversially disallowed a try just before halftime after the TMO could not see any clear grounding of the ball.

In February 2019 it was announced that Donald had joined the Chiefs once again as injury cover for [[Tiaan Falcon]].

=== Bath Rugby ===
Donald signed for English Premiership club [[Bath Rugby]] for a {{frac|2|1|2}}-year deal. Initially denied a work permit,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://sport.iafrica.com/news/741652.html|title=Donald left in limbo|publisher=iafrica.com|date=18 July 2011|access-date=18 July 2011}}</ref> Bath appealed the decision against the UK Government and, with the support of the [[Rugby Football Union|RFU]], won their appeal against the refusal. Donald joined Bath after the Rugby World Cup 2011, making his début in the 68th minute of their Heineken Cup clash with Glasgow on 13 November 2011, scoring a penalty with 90 seconds to go.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/15694243.stm |work=[[BBC News]] | title=Glasgow Warriors 26–21 Bath | date=13 November 2011}}</ref>

The [[Blues (Super rugby franchise)|Blues]] denied reports stating that Donald had signed for the team for [[2012 Super Rugby season|2012]] as a replacement for [[Stephen Brett]] and [[Luke McAlister]], who are both heading overseas.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10739165|title=Dalton dismisses report of Donald joining Blues|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|date=18 July 2011|access-date=18 July 2011|first=David|last=Leggat}}</ref>

=== Mitsubishi Dynaboars ===
In April 2013, it was announced Donald would leave Bath Rugby to join Japanese side [[Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars]] in the [[Top League]] for the 2013/14 season.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21995211|publisher=BBC Sport|title=Stephen Donald to leave Bath to go to Japan|date=1 April 2013}}</ref>

== International career ==
[[File:Stephen Donald, Twickenham - May 2012.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Stephen Donald representing the Barbarians F.C. against England at Twickenham Stadium]]
Despite an international career that had not lived up to expectations, he played for [[New Zealand national rugby union team|New Zealand]] from 2008 to 2011. Donald kicked the winning penalty for New Zealand in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final.<ref name="unreal">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/15423317.stm |title=New Zealand hero Stephen Donald delights in 'unreal' World Cup journey |work=[[BBC News]] |date= 23 October 2011|access-date=23 October 2011}}</ref>

Donald played on an international-level for the [[All Blacks]] from 2008 to 2011. Throughout his time playing for the All Blacks, Donald had been the subject of harsh criticism as well as high praise.

One instance of note was in October 2010, when the All Blacks faced off against the [[Australia national rugby union team|Wallabies]] in a [[Bledisloe Cup]] match in [[Hong Kong Stadium|Hong Kong]]. In the 60th minute of the game, Donald came on as a substitute for [[Dan Carter]] and the All Blacks held a five-point lead, just after [[Drew Mitchell]] scored a converted try. Donald had missed a penalty-kick that would have put the game out of reach. The situation was made worse when Donald failed to kick the ball into touch in the dying minutes of the game. After launching a counter-attack, [[James O'Connor (rugby union)|James O'Connor]] scored a try in the corner to level the score. O'Connor managed to convert that try to win the game for the Australians and the blame of the loss fell primarily on Donald.<ref name="BeaverFever">{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10762439 |title=Beaver fever in All Black Donald's hometown |author=James Ihaka and Vaimoana Tapaleao |date=29 October 2011 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=13 November 2011}}</ref> Although defended by team personnel, Donald had seemingly fallen out of favour with the public and selectors. After the 2010 season had culminated, the All Black selectors looked toward players such as [[Colin Slade]] and [[Aaron Cruden]] more favourably. Donald was not named in the initial [[2011 Rugby World Cup]] All Blacks squad and with his forthcoming move to Bath Rugby, it seemed to be the end of his All Black career.

However, a string of injures hit the All Blacks that would see Donald return to the squad. During training the day before the All Blacks match against Canada, Dan Carter sustained a tournament-ending groin injury and was subsequently replaced by Aaron Cruden. On 9 October, Colin Slade sustained a groin tear which led to Donald receiving a call-up as replacement first-five for the All Blacks heading into the finals. A cartoon by [[Tom Scott (cartoonist)|Tom Scott]] in the lead-up to the [[2011 Rugby World Cup final]] described it as a "nightmare" if New Zealand's fate was left in his hands.<ref name="Stuff.co.nz_1251886">{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/blogs/opinion/cartoons/1251886/Tom-Scott |title=Tom Scott cartoon |date=1 March 2009 |work=[[Stuff.co.nz]] |access-date=13 November 2011}}</ref> Donald was not used in the semi-final against Australia, however he would be used in the final against France. Cruden sustained a knee injury 34 minutes into the first half, which left Donald to take to the field. After receiving a penalty in the 46th minute, Donald converted a penalty-kick which extended their lead to eight points. Shortly afterwards, France regained the ball from the kick-off and [[Thierry Dusautoir]] scored under the posts, bringing the score to 8–7. Despite the resilient and strong performance from the French, this would be their only set of points scored in the final. Coupled with [[Tony Woodcock (rugby player)|Tony Woodcock]]'s try, Donald's penalty-kick was ultimately what won the New Zealand side their second Rugby World Cup. After the final, Donald was hailed as the player that won the World Cup for New Zealand and had become somewhat of a national hero thereafter.<ref name="unreal" /><ref name="Stuff.co.nz_5841123">{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/5841123/Stephen-Donald-From-ugly-duck-to-NZs-darling |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20140309123405/http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/5841123/Stephen-Donald-From-ugly-duck-to-NZs-darling |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 March 2014 |title=Stephen Donald: From ugly duck to darling |author=Johnston, Kirsty |date=24 October 2011 |work=[[Stuff.co.nz]] |access-date=13 November 2011  }}</ref>

In honour of his contribution to winning the World Cup, his local rugby club in [[Waiuku]] has renamed their home ground to Beaver Park.<ref name="BeaverFever" />

A biopic on Donald's journey to the World Cup final entitled "The Kick" screened on [[TVNZ]] on 10 August 2014.<ref name="TheKick">{{cite news |url=http://tvnz.co.nz/the-kick/s2014-epspecial-video-6049384 |title=The Kick Documentary |date=10 August 2014 |work=[[TVNZ]] |access-date=10 August 2014}}</ref>

Stephen appeared on the second episode of [[The Masked Singer NZ]] as "[[Moa (bird)|Moa]]", being unmasked in his first appearance.

== Statistics ==
'''Test record overall:'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/player/120363.html?class=1;orderby=tries;template=results;type=player;view=match |title=Statsguru / Player analysis / Beauden Barrett / Test matches |work=Scrum |publisher=ESPN |access-date=30 December 2015}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%"
|-
! Opposition !! Played !! Won !! Drawn !! Lost !! Winning % !! [[Try (rugby)|Tries]] !! [[Try (rugby)|Conversions]] !! [[Penalty (rugby)|Penalties]] !! [[Drop goal]]s !! Points total
|-
| {{ru|AUS}}
| 7 || 6 || 0 || 1 || 85.71 || 0 || 1 || 5 || 0 || 17
|-
| {{ru|ENG}}
| 2 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 100 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 2
|-
| {{ru|FRA}}
| 4 || 3 || 0 || 1 || 75 || 0 || 0 || 7 || 0 || 21
|-
| {{ru|IRE}}
| 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 100 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
| {{ru|ITA}}
| 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 100 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
| {{ru|SAM}}
| 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 100 || 1 || 7 || 0 || 0 || 19
|-
| {{ru|SCO}}
| 2 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 100 || 0 || 4 || 2 || 0 || 14
|-
| {{ru|RSA}}
| 4 || 1 || 0 || 3 || 25 || 0 || 2 || 7 || 0 || 25
|-
| {{ru|WAL}}
| 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 100 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|- – class="sortbottom"
! '''Total'''
| '''23''' || '''18''' || '''0''' || '''5''' || '''{{#expr:18/23*100 round 2}}''' || '''1''' || '''15''' || '''21''' || '''0''' || '''98'''
|}

== Television ==
Donald appeared alongside [[Israel Dagg]] and [[Hamish Dodd]] in the New Zealand 2023 television series, ''Clubhouse Rescue''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Spy: Inside Israel Dagg's new TV show - Clubhouse Rescue |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/spy-inside-izzy-daggs-new-tv-show/EP7LO5IK5VFQ5JI3KITADJERT4/ |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref>

==Honours==

===Waikato ===
* [[National Provincial Championship (2006–present)|NPC/Air New Zealand Cup Champion]], 2006
* [[Ranfurly Shield]] holder

===Chiefs===
* [[Super Rugby]] Runners up: [[2009 Super 14 season|2009]]

===Bath===
* [[European Rugby Challenge Cup|European Challenge Cup]] Runners Up: 2013-2014

===New Zealand ===
*[[Rugby World Cup]] Winner: [[2011 Rugby World Cup|2011]]
*[[The Rugby Championship|Tri Nations]] Winner: [[2008 Tri Nations Series|2008]]
*[[Bledisloe Cup]] Winner (3): 2008-2010

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{All Blacks|id=1075|name=Stephen Donald}}
* Stephen Donald [https://web.archive.org/web/20081014084028/http://chiefs.co.nz/The-Team/Player-Profiles-/Stephen-Donald/ Chiefs' profile]

{{New Zealand Squad 2011 Rugby World Cup}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donald, Stephen}}
[[Category:1983 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Bath Rugby players]]
[[Category:Chiefs (Super Rugby) players]]
[[Category:Counties Manukau rugby union players]]
[[Category:New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England]]
[[Category:New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan]]
[[Category:Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars players]]
[[Category:New Zealand international rugby union players]]
[[Category:New Zealand rugby union players]]
[[Category:People educated at Wesley College, Auckland]]
[[Category:People from Papakura]]
[[Category:Rugby union fly-halves]]
[[Category:Tokyo Sungoliath players]]
[[Category:University of Auckland alumni]]
[[Category:University of Waikato alumni]]
[[Category:Waikato rugby union players]]
[[Category:Rugby union players from Auckland]]
[[Category:People educated at Waiuku College]]
[[Category:2011 Rugby World Cup players]]