b. 04.06.1898 Featherston
d. 29.08.1981, Greytown

Selector 7th Brigade Group 1942.
Brother of Quentin.

Jim Donald  [All Black #218]

Jim Donald was the elder by nearly two years of two rugged Wairarapa farmers who were leading performers not only for their provincial union in the 1920s but in a number of All Black selections, though they were never together in the same national side.

Jim specialised in the controversial old position of wing forward. At a rawboned 1.83m and nearly 90kg Donald had ideal physical attributes for the position. To add to his considerable strength he had an abundance of pace and was described in a contemporary report as being a devastating tackler, a good handler and quick to harass opposing backs.

Educated at Wellington College (1st XV 1915) Donald between 1917 and 1930 aggregated 104 first class matches, an exceptional feat for a player of his era. He played 73 matches in all for Wairarapa and he and his younger brother, Quentin, were stalwarts of the union in one of its golden ages.

Jim Donald was frequently the Wairarapa captain and led the union in some of its most celebrated matches, notably the legendary “Battle of Solway” Ranfurly Shield match against Hawke’s Bay in 1927. He was also involved, as captain, of Wairarapa-Bush sides which played the Springboks in 1921, the New South Wales touring sides of 1923 and 1925 and the Great Britain side in 1930. He also captained Wairarapa against yet another New South Wales combination in 1928.

Donald’s qualities as an all round footballer were often used in the backline and when Wairarapa played a Ranfurly Shield challenge against Hawke’s Bay in 1926 he was at second five eighths. That match was lost 77-14 and perhaps explains why Donald quickly returned to his specialist position in the pack.

He had the first of his 22 matches as an All Black on the 1920 tour of Australia and retained his place for the first two tests against the Springboks but was dropped for the third test decider and replaced by Wanganui’s Moke Belliss.

Those two matches against the Springboks were to be his only official international caps. Though he appeared in one of the trials he was not wanted for the All Blacks’ tour of Britain and France in 1924-25.

Preferred as the wing forwards were the faster Cantabrian Jim Parker and Wellington’s Cliff Porter, who of course became the touring team’s captain.

Donald himself became an All Black again when in 1925 he was recalled to lead the side on tour to New South Wales. For this tour members of the Invincibles side, having only recently returned to New Zealand, were ruled ineligible.

Donald made a good fist of the captaincy and appeared in all eight tour matches. But when the NSW side toured New Zealand later in the same year the Invincibles including Porter were recalled for the one-off international and Donald never again played for the All Blacks. However, he did have another trial in 1927 before the side was chosen for the following year’s tour of South Africa.

In latter years Donald ran a successful sheep and cattle stud in southern Wairarapa.

Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.