Rugby World Cup: The talent drain Rugby Australia must urgently fix
Ben Donaldson played a starring role in the Wallabies’ win over Georgia, yet his career up until this point highlights a big issue Rugby Australia must solve as soon as possible.
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No matter what happens, when this World Cup is over and Rugby Australia starts mapping out its blueprint for the future, one of the first things they need to fix is the talent drain leaving New South Wales.
Waratahs administrators love to blame the NRL for poaching all their best talent but half the time, they’ve only got themselves to blame for letting players go.
The list of NSW players that have ended up playing in other states is endless – and needs to stop if Australian rugby is ever to get back to the glory days.
Ben Donaldson, man of the match in the Wallabies World Cup win over Georgia, is just the latest example.
Just 24, he now looks poised to play a big role, not only at the World Cup but possibly for years to come, yet he almost didn’t make the team.
He had a nightmare Test debut last year and after struggling to find his best with the Waratahs this season, he signed a new deal with the Western Force – a decision that baffled Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones.
“He‘s a really, really good rugby player,” Jones said. “I think he makes good decisions.
“He‘s got a pretty sound game at 10 or 15 in terms of his kicking so I’m not sure what the Waratahs didn’t see in him, but that’s their business, not mine.”
Donaldson has always shown great potential but the transition to seniors hasn’t all been smooth sailing.
Picked for the Wallabies on last year’s European tour he made his debut off the bench against Italy.
He only came in the dying minutes but found himself taking a shot at goal to save the Wallabies from an embarrassing loss but he missed the target.
“I just took that as a big learning,” he said.
“You can put your head down and dwell on it for a long time, but I just took it as a learning curve.
“Goalkickers aren‘t going to kick goals every game so I just went back and looked at it and I just kept working hard and probably worked harder after that.”
With an eye to the future, Jones kept faith in Donaldson when others didn’t show as much patience.
Normally a five-eighth, the selection of Donaldson at fullback in the Wallabies opening World Cup match was a surprise but he repaid Jones with a match winning display.
“This is my first game in a while starting so pretty pleased with my performance,” Donaldson said.
“But overall, the win for the boys, the first game of the World Cup, against a tough Georgian side, that‘s probably the most pleasing thing.
“We know we‘re good enough to win any game we play so the boys are just really excited.
“When you play a game like that with a crowd like that in a World Cup, it definitely gives you a big confidence boost.
“When you‘re training with a squad like this, you’re always working so hard and you get the backing of the players and the coaches.
“You‘re always confident in yourself. It’s pretty pleasing to come out of form like that but more pleasing to get a result with the team after the past couple of games we’ve had.”
Donaldson said Jones’ belief in him played a major part in rebuilding his confidence.
“Whenever he picks you in a squad, you feel like you‘re doing something right so his backing just meant the world to me,” Donaldson said.
“And then that meant I worked even harder to put the faith back in him. I‘m just glad that we could put a performance out there for him.”
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Originally published as Rugby World Cup: The talent drain Rugby Australia must urgently fix
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