Mark William Donaldson (born 6 November 1955) is a former New Zealand half-back

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. Donaldson played 35 matches, including 13

test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

, for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

from 1977 to 1981.

Biography

After playing in the

New Plymouth Boys' High School New Plymouth Boys' High School is a single-sex boys' state secondary school in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The school currently caters for approximately 1300 students, including 210 boarders, on its site. The school often collaborat ...

1st XV for two years, Donaldson made his provincial debut for Manawatu in 1974 before joining

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in 1975. He returned to Manawatu in 1976. Donaldson, nicknamed "Bullet", first played at the senior national level with the

New Zealand Barbarians The New Zealand Barbarian Rugby Club Inc., nicknamed the ''Barbarians'', or ''Baa-Baas'', is a rugby union club headquartered in Kingsland, New Zealand, Kingsland, Auckland. The idea came from the concept of the Barbarian F.C. The Barbarians pla ...

, in 1977 in Australia. He was then selected for the All Blacks team during their tour of France in 1977, playing five matches (including two test matches). He continued his success with the All Blacks in 1978 with wins against the teams from

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, and

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, but missed the matches against

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due to injury. In March 1979, Donaldson played in South Africa with a World Invitation XV and then in the All Blacks' series against

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, Australia and Scotland. He subsequently lost his regular place in the All Black team to Dave Loveridge who was regarded as a more consistent performer. He rejoined the All Blacks for the 1980 season against Australia, but was side-lined with a broken jaw after two matches. Recovering, he played during the All Black tours of

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and Wales. He was an All Black half-back reserve for the 1981 series against Scotland and the South African

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. Significantly, his only field time was during the historic 25–22 victory over the Springboks in

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when, late in the game, he replaced Loveridge, who was injured. Donaldson was instrumental in setting up the penalty play which resulted in the All Blacks winning the game. As captain, he continued to play for Manawatu in 1982, taking a mid-season break in 1983. He switched to the Te Kawau Club in 1984, but missed most of the year due to injury, returning to competition in 1985, until a new injury caused him to permanently retire from playing. Between 1990 and 1992, Donaldson coached the Manawatu side.

Statistics

*Number of tests with the All Blacks: 13 *Other games with the All Blacks: 22 *Total number of games with the All Blacks: 35 *First game: 26 October 1977 *Last game: 12 September 1981 *Games with the All Blacks by year: 1977 – 5, 1978 – 12, 1979 – 11, 1980 – 6, and 1981 – 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Mark New Zealand international rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves 1955 births Living people Rugby union players from Palmerston North People educated at New Plymouth Boys' High School Manawatu rugby union players Hawke's Bay rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players