19-Test Wallabies first-five Ben Donaldson has pinpointed where his side improved the most in their victory over Moana Pasifika, after they started with two defeats in the Super Rugby Pacific season.
Simon Cron’s side started their three-week New Zealand road trip with a convincing victory, although a late surge from Tana Umaga’s side meant the team from Perth came away with four points, not five.
Navigation Homes Stadium in Pukekohe was the host of the Force’s first victory in New Zealand since Round ten in 2022, 1,375 days ago.
Speaking to Taylah Johnson from Sky Sport after the match, Donaldson said he was pleased with his side’s performance in Pukekohe.
”Yeah, obviously a lot better tonight. It’s always tough, when you do the whole preseason and come out two games at home and two losses, which is really disappointing,” Donaldson said.
“But like you said, I’m just trying to enjoy myself, play freely and lead this team as best I can.
“And after tonight, it’s a much better feeling, and it should be good to have a beer with the boys in the sheds.”
On the difference between the first two losses and then their first victory, the Wallabies’ first-five explained they had much better “composure”.
“I think we were just really composed, like in the past few games, we were a bit frantic, trying to play a bit too much from our end.
“We had a big focus this week with our kick strategy, I thought we kicked a lot better this week. Controlled the momentum a bit a bit better, and then our discipline was a bit better as well.
“You give these big teams momentum and discipline into your heart, it’s hard to stop them. So I thought for the most part, we were pretty good. Probably just in the last 10 minutes we weren’t.”
Just prior to the opening whistle on Friday night, Donaldson was getting ready to take the field before the doctor came rushing into the changing room.
The game doctor told Donaldson he needed to pass an HIA test to be able to play the game as his mouthguard had notified the doctors of a possible head injury.
The Wallabies first-five explained it was a bit of a weird beginning to the match.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of a weird one. I didn’t feel anything. I had it in the warm up, and went back into the change room, put my jersey on, and the doctor came in freaking out,” Donaldson told Sky Sport.
“Apparently it was pinging so maybe it was in one of the tackles we did on the pads at the end, but didn’t feel anything.
“So I knew I was fine, just had to pass the test and yeah it was a bit of a chaotic couple of minutes, but I was just happy to get out there.”