Stephen Donald signs for Bath

All Black fly half Stephen Donald signs for Bath according to BBC Bristol - more to follow!

So Donald Duck is on his way to Bath ...

(someone had to say it )

Good signing.

Good signing. Is he in the NZ squad for the RWC? If not, then he gets a good run at the start of the season and will be well bedded in for the HC. If not, he comes to Bath and will only get 2-3 weeks to settle into a new club before the HC group games start.
As a Leinsterman, I take notice of this signing. Only takes a couple of more to really put it to Leinster next season.

Could thrive away from the high-pressure of the All Blacks. He's always been decent in Super Rugby.

An excellent signing, could be excellent - he is young and has always done well at club level (although not at international level)

As a Cardiff Blues fan - I'll trade you Dan Parks and Ceri Sweeney for him (you can have Gavin Henson too if you want?)

thebandwagonsociety wrote:Good signing. Is he in the NZ squad for the RWC? If not, then he gets a good run at the start of the season and will be well bedded in for the HC. If not, he comes to Bath and will only get 2-3 weeks to settle into a new club before the HC group games start.
As a Leinsterman, I take notice of this signing. Only takes a couple of more to really put it to Leinster next season.

The NZ squad doesn't get named until August, a week before the last 3N game (great timing there IRB).

Very good singing for Bath I wonder where James Haskell will be going.

Yes and when it is named, Donald won't be there. His performance last week echoed the efforts of Hong Kong last year where for 20 minutes he could do NOTHING right and a range of everything wrong- missed from in front, threw forward passes seemingly deliberately etc.

Good s15 level player and thats as high as it will get. I suspect he'll go to the NH to prove a point and is the type of player NH will take to the point of "What was GH thinking!" I say good luck to him because hes still the standout low performer for the AB's in recent years and he needs a completely new perspective.

I think the Nh will give him just that and he'll start enjoying his rugby again.

Not good enough for NZ rugby? Tick.

Sounds over qualified to play in England.

I think Donald will be a much better player for them than James was.

Phew. Munster dodge a bullet there.

Possibly a great signing for Bath,sure his kicking is hit and miss but then so was Butch James'.
Bath also have other Kicking options with Vesty,Barkley(when he returns) and Eastmond (once settled) so his kicking in the long run won't be such an issue .

Haha Donald Duck. He's a bit of a liability. However he is highly experienced in the Super 15, arguably the toughest league in the world, so he may be a different player at Bath. Away from the bright lights and media scrutiny of New Zealand he could do great things for Bath. Vestey isn't exactly a star performer.

For me his reputation is tainted by that awful performance against Australia in Hong Kong when James O'Connor got the winning try after Donald failed to kick the ball out at full time. Admittedly the poor guy is always compared to Dan Carter which never helps.

Donald is a pretty handy SXV player, he'll do fine at Jeff and HEC level. He's just not tri-nations class.

Quack Quack.

Heard this was on the cards after the Falcons game at the Rec a few weeks back, have to be brutally honest in that I wasn't excited by it then, but after plenty of time to reflect on it.... nothing's really changed.

Meh, time will tell.

Will the last fly half leaving please put out the lights.I trust this is correct.Not like the we`ve signed Dan carter bit a few weeks ago.Good at S15 level,but Test match pressure too much fot him.ThatsDonald,Berquist,McAlister.Brett if he does`nt make RWC,leaving Carter,Slade,and Crudon who have played at test level.A few bubbling under but certainlt thin on the ground,a bit short sighted not grooming a few DC replacements when they had the chance.

Is he Baths' style? Is this a Dan Parks to the Auckland, sorry Cardiff, Blues moment?

I am not convinced about Bath signing him. From the matches I have seen this year, and I have watched a lot of S15 this season, I have not been impressed. His overall play has been quite erratic. Defence fair to poor. Only his running has been pretty good. I am sure no one in NZ will be too sad to see him go, except as he represents another player going up north for money they can't afford. Maybe Bath felt they have no options at out half? He will be better for Bath than Norton-Knight was for Blues. But I would not expect any miracles.

Great signing IMO. I really expect him to deliver for them.

They could do with a winger no? Or will Carraro fill in there.

09 Classens
10 Donald
11 Banahan
12 Barkley
13 Hipkiss
14
15 Abendanon

ruggerbyplayer wrote:For me his reputation is tainted by that awful performance against Australia in Hong Kong when James O'Connor got the winning try after Donald failed to kick the ball out at full time. Admittedly the poor guy is always compared to Dan Carter which never helps.

That's the trouble in NZ - if you're not Dan Cater, then you're mud.

Great signing, should fit in well with Bath's playing style as a strong runner with ball in hand, and a decent kicker from hand.

red_stag wrote:They could do with a winger no? Or will Carraro fill in there.

09 Classens
10 Donald
11 Banahan
12 Barkley
13 Hipkiss
14
15 Abendanon

09 Classens
10 Donald
11 Banahan
12 Barkley
13 Hipkiss
14 Abendanon
15 Cuthbert

maybe?

Its certainly a possibility Asbo but they haven't got much depth there. Not for a team taking on Europe and Premiership. Actually I forgot they have signed Kyle Eastmond from Rugby League.

I'm very happy with this signing, his stats speak for themselves and thats in super rugby, lets be honest Carter was just pie in the sky, I think he'll have more of an impact in the Jeff than Butch.

Glas a du wrote:Is he Baths' style? Is this a Dan Parks to the Auckland, sorry Cardiff, Blues moment?

Well Baths style has been to grossly underacheive given the amount of money they have spent.

So quite possibly yes.

Surely Biggs will play on the Bath wing next season or is he leaving?

Donald will do well at Bath.

Flip sake forgot about Biggs!

[quote="AsLongAsBut100ofUs"]

red_stag wrote:They could do with a winger no? Or will Carraro fill in there.

09 Classens
10 Donald
11 Banahan
12 Barkley
13 Hipkiss
14
15 Abendanon

Biggs
Boussuge
Cuthbert
Carraro

But yes we could do with a top class winger.

and as for

Well Baths style has been to grossly underachieve given the amount of money they have spent

What money, Grewcock, Watson and Butch going has freed up a large part of the salary cap funds, what are you implying?

BATH_BTGOG, don't worry, it's just Biscuit WUMming again

I thought Wums were banned for this site?

Well they let Grey Ghost in so obviously not. Could be a Wum-a-lanche!

I just hope the Wums don't ruin this site like they did bbc 606.

Name and shame the wums now

Bath, I suspect it will be dealt with far better. The mods have made it clear that everyone is welcome. If you were a Wum on 606 thats your business. Clean slate from here. They've made it clear that bans will be implemented. Also they are devising a foe option where you can block other posters comments from appearing.

I hope this site doesn't go overboard with the censorship though. People need to be able to speak frankly, provided it's relevant to the topic and over moderation ruins the flow of the debate.

Some of the 606 moderation was pretty rediculous at times.

Also they are devising a foe option where you can block other posters comments from appearing.

Nice I like the sound of that if the likes of hydroxymoron, Hersh, nottins etc show up

roddersm wrote:I hope this site doesn't go overboard with the censorship though. People need to be able to speak frankly, provided it's relevant to the topic and over moderation ruins the flow of the debate.

Some of the 606 moderation was pretty rediculous at times.

It was but the beauty of this is that the mods are posters and seem to use common sense and certainly have shown willingness to leave up "bad comments" where everyone takes them as fun. I haven't seen many/any comments moderated.

[quote="BATH_BTGOG"]

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

red_stag wrote:They could do with a winger no? Or will Carraro fill in there.

09 Classens
10 Donald
11 Banahan
12 Barkley
13 Hipkiss
14
15 Abendanon

Biggs
Boussuge
Cuthbert
Carraro

But yes we could do with a top class winger.

and as for

Well Baths style has been to grossly underachieve given the amount of money they have spent

What money, Grewcock, Watson and Butch going has freed up a large part of the salary cap funds, what are you implying?

Boussuge is leaving Bath too. Maybe another signing is in the offing? Perhaps a winger or fullback? Front line wingers for Bath next season appear to be Matt Banahan (will he be utilised as a winger?), Tom Biggs, Matt Carraro and Nick Abendanon (Do they trust him at fullback anymore?). Kyle Eastmond is an unknown quantity and probably won't be relied upon too much. Can players like Ben Williams cover the back three? Looks like there will be a lot of game-time for Cuthbert next season.

Boussuge is leaving Bath too.


Is he, I haven't heard anything on that?

I think this is a great signing. Bath are showing excellent ambition. Makes the HC group a little bit more interesting now. Should be as good a signing for Bath as Luke McAllister was for Sale.


So he's not Dan Carter. Him and 7 billion others.

Firstly on the original post, I think Stephen Donald will be a good signing for us. Theres no shame in being understudy to Dan Carter at all and I hope that he will have a point to prove after becoming a bit of a scapegoat/ figure of fun in NZ.

BATH BTGOG

I think Boussuge has signed for Brive. I suppose we may be a little light on back 3 options, but when Barkley is fit again and Hipkiss is playing presumably Banahan will be back on the wing?

Donald should be a good signing. Wish him well. He hasn't deserved all the criticism that has come his way.

It's always going to be tricky being compared to Carter who manages to be both solid and flashily creative practically every single game.

He is a liability, poor All Black, poor S15 player too. He will fail in the UK and make his way to Japan, ideal for his dire game IMO.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:BATH_BTGOG, don't worry, it's just Biscuit WUMming again

Id hardly call it wumming, it was a mildly jokey but fair comment. I wasnt trying to wind anyone up, and if people are going to get offended/wound up by things like that they need to take a deep breath and stoip taking themselves and the world so seriously. Id call it "trying to be funny"

Whilst Baths big name signings have generaly peformed pretty well its not unfair to say they have spent a lot of money on "star" players without the results they would have hoped for. They are the biggest spending club in England.
Donald may or may not change that trend, I just think teh way Bath have tried to go about things hasnt worked. The way Saracens (and to some extent Tigers) did things, signing supposeldy second rate undervalued S15 players did. So actually maybe Donald will prove to be a very good signing.

For what its worth I have a bet at very generous odds on Bath reaching the HC final. Its really hard to predict which way they will go.

welshjohn369 wrote:He is a liability, poor All Black, poor S15 player too. He will fail in the UK and make his way to Japan, ideal for his dire game IMO.

How can you say that his stats are impressive and his No2 to Dan Carter in NZ, who lets face it know a thing or two about rugby!

BATH_BTGOG wrote:

welshjohn369 wrote:He is a liability, poor All Black, poor S15 player too. He will fail in the UK and make his way to Japan, ideal for his dire game IMO.

How can you say that his stats are impressive and his No2 to Dan Carter in NZ, who lets face it know a thing or two about rugby!

Indeed. He's a steady SXV player, and should shine in the Jeff. He won't look out of place in the HEC either - he just couldn't step up to ABs level.

But thats just it isn't it a steady Super15 player will shine in the Jeff, I truely believe this is a good signing but I'd have been happy to sign Charlie Hodgson

Bath have been mediocre for a number of years now. The new owners and management are setting out their stall by high profile signings such as this - sure he's not Dan Carter, but he's a very good player. A few more signings of this standard and the Rec may get to relive some glory days.

Can you imagine being a fly half in NZ, being compared to DC all the time? Must be a nightmare, should be a breath of fresh air for him to get out of that shadow. Hope he does well in the Jeff. (Not against the Chiefs though!).