-
Stephen Donald of the Chiefs - Source: Photosport -
Related
Let's face it - the Chiefs have their issues at the moment. The Sione Lauaki dramas of the past month have been compounded with a backlog of injuries that is more reminiscent of a war zone.
Inspirational captain Mils Muliaina was added to the ever-expanding injury list this week that already included Nathan White, Aled de Malmanche, James McGougan, Kevin O'Neill, and Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Chuck into the mix a faltering scrum, a hesitant line-out and three losses in their last four matches and it becomes clear that the odds are heavily stacked against the Chiefs repeating their 2009 final effort.
However if the Chiefs are to go on their traditional late season winning streak much will be asked from their new inside back pairing of Mike Delaney and Stephen Donald.
The All Black pair were finally untied in Saturday's 27-22 win over the Highlanders after Delany had spent much of the season as a makeshift fullback and then a first five-eight understudy.
The irony of the situation would not be lost on Donald. He has spent much of his international career in the rather large shadow of Daniel Carter and that unhealthy comparison has been largely instrumental in his eventual move to second five-eight.
Indeed even now, after admitting last year on the All Blacks end of year tour that perhaps his future in the game was as a No.12, he seems reluctant to fully embrace his new resume.
"I guess it gave us a couple of other options but it's still very much a work in progress," Donald told ONE News when asked about his new combination with Delany.
"I'm not sure it's something that we're going to carry on for the rest of the campaign but it certainly got the job done on Saturday."
However, whether Donald likes it or not, the combination looks set to continue for the rest of the campaign.
Muliaina's season ending injury opened up the possibility of Donald reclaiming the first five-eight jersey for Friday night's match against the Bulls with Delany again reverting to fullback, but, on Thursday coach Ian Foster named rookie Tim Nanai-Williams there instead.
Delany, not surprisingly, is a little more upbeat about the situation as he not only gets the second half of the Super 14 campaign to resurrect the Chiefs season but also to push for an All Black recall.
"Yeah I suppose I'm pretty happy with how we went," he said.
"We were never to sure how it was going to pan out.
"But yeah I enjoyed working Steve and thought we got through the game pretty well."
For Donald however, it's a new experience that he is still trying to come to grips with.
"You get lost a bit little bit," Donald said when asked about the difference between the two roles.
"I mean when you've been running in the same spot for the last 20 years you know where you have to go but I sort of catch myself mid sort of phase and think gees - I got to run over here now.
"It's something I have to get better at I guess."
The Chiefs match against the Bulls kicks-off at 7:35pm from Waikato Stadium and all eyes will be on this burgeoning relationship.
