Stephen Donald tuned out following an unforgiving assignment against the French by sitting university exams, but continuing his test rugby education now takes precedence.

The much maligned flyhalf has had no shortage of mentors since his surprising recovery from a hamstring strain saw him selected for the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations test against the Wallabies at Eden Park on Saturday.

A rehabilitating Daniel Carter, backs coach and former test pivot Wayne Smith and kicking guru Mick Byrne have helped prepare Donald for the toughest test of his All Blacks career.

The 25-year-old also admits he has benefited from escaping a sometimes claustrophobic atmosphere at the team's Auckland base.

"I'm lucky my parents live 50 minutes away [in the Waikato]," Donald said as he confronted a media scrum today.

"I've brought my car up and I drove out there yesterday.

"You want to get out of the hotel as much as you can, it can be quite a saturating environment if you're sort of cocooned in here."

Donald unwound after the drawn series against France by fishing with injured teammate Richard Kahui and completing two business management exams at Waikato University.
It was the perfect getaway after his performances were picked apart.

Strolling the streets of his home town also offered a degree of positive reinforcement.

"I'd got away from it all in the last couple of weeks and bumped into a few people in the street, people in Hamilton have given me their support."

However, Donald realised the honeymoon was over at lunchtime on Tuesday when head coach Graham Henry told him he was starting ahead of Luke McAlister.

"It was probably a bit unexpected," Donald said.

"It's certainly nice to for the confidence to know they've got faith I can go out there and do a job."

Donald accepts the rugby public do not necessarily share team management's optimism but he has tried to ignore the reaction to a couple of wonky outings as the injured Carter's replacement.

"I've got some great thick skin, you just have to kick on through it," he said.

"I made a few errors in Wellington [against France]. I've learnt some lessons but you can't get too hung up on what's gone on there. I'm just trying to play as well as I know I can."

Donald, approaching his 12th test, is condemned to be compared to Carter, as any All Blacks openside flanker is when Richie McCaw is off duty.

Despite the scrutiny Donald insists he is mentally prepared for his latest challenge.

"I'm in a real good spot as far as my mind goes. I'm just excited about getting out there."

A pep talk from Carter in Wellington last week helped soothe his nerves.

"We chewed the fat on a lot of things. It was good talking to DC and knowing you're on the right track. There was a fair bit of reassurance."

Teammates have also been quick to justify Donald's selection, including captain McCaw.

"It's great he's back in the mix, he'll be fine, it's not an issue," McCaw said.
McCaw recalled Donald's second-half cameo against Australia at Brisbane last September in what was the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations decider.

He came on at flyhalf, shunting Carter out one spot and his tactical kicking was crucial in the All Blacks recovering to win 28-24.

"Hopefully he takes some confidence out of that, and I thought he did reasonably well [against France]."

Donald also dwelled positively on that experience and his start at No. 10 in Hong Kong last November.

"It proves I can do it, I'm going out against them feeling good knowing that," he said.

"I feel I have a bit experience in that regard, it's money in the bank in some ways."
Donald is also excited by the prospect of starting a test at the only ground he watched the All Blacks as a child.

"Aussie at Eden Park, it's the only test I went to as a kid.

"It was a horrible day in '91, it was a 6-3 [to New Zealand] scoreline.

"I don't know if we were supposed to go to another game or I just said 'No, I'm not going again'. That's all we went to.

"I sat on the terraces and complained about how hard the seat was."

NZPA

Can Donald step up against the Wallabies or will Giteau 'school' him on how its done? Let us know...

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