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

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. Donaldson played 35 matches, including 13 test matches, for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

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 collabora ...

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

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

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 Barbarians, nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", are an invitational rugby union team. They have been a part of New Zealand rugby since the team was founded in 1937 by two ex-All Blacks, Ronald Bush and Hubert McLean, who captained their fi ...

, 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

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, but missed the matches against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

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

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Australia and Scotland. He subsequently lost his regular place in the All Black team to

Dave Loveridge David Steven Loveridge (born 22 April 1952) is an All Black of the late 1970s and early 1980s, known in his time as the greatest halfback in the world. Life and career Loveridge was born in 1952, in Stratford, New Zealand, to Horace and Marg ...

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

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

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

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

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

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

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