{"id":393306,"date":"2024-05-13T04:59:40","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T04:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=393306"},"modified":"2024-05-13T07:04:54","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T07:04:54","slug":"triple-threat-creates-welcome-wallabies-headache","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=393306","title":{"rendered":"'Triple threat' creates welcome Wallabies headache"},"content":{"rendered":"

Incumbent Wallabies five-eighth Ben Donaldson gave Joe Schmidt a timely reminder of his abilities as the Western Force revived their finals hopes with an emphatic \ufeff48-10 win over the Fijian Drua.<\/a><\/p>\n

The bonus point victory in Perth on Saturday lifted \ufeffthe 3-8 Force to ninth on the Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> ladder, two points behind the playoff pace set by the eighth placed Drua.<\/p>\n

New Wallabies coach Schmidt was watching on in the HBF Park stands as he mulls his options for the first Test against Wales in Sydney on July 6.<\/p>\n

Watch all the action from the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season<\/strong><\/em> with<\/strong><\/em> every match ad free, live and and on demand on Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

With the Force underwhelming in 2024, it is easy to forget that Donaldson is the incumbent No.10 and ex-Wallabies Tim Horan and Cameron Shepherd both opted for Brumbies pivot Noah Lolesio in their recent form XVs.<\/a><\/p>\n

Rebels playmaker Carter Gordon \ufeffis the other strong contender but Donaldson deservedly got the plaudits for his best game since moving west from the Waratahs.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old \ufeffscored 23 points by scoring a late try and nailing all eight of his shots at goal.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Former Aussie world champ knocked into retirement<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Agent under fire after scathing Ross Lyon attack<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Bennett 'dilemma' after shock rise of late bloom<\/strong><\/a>er<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

"Donaldson's kicking was outstanding but also his running game and passing game – he's a triple threat," Force coach Simon Cron said.<\/p>\n

Speaking before the game on Friday, Schmidt told reporters that Donaldson was firmly in the selection frame.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"Ben Donaldson is the incumbent Wallaby 10, and his acceleration, his ability to change the line and distribute well have been very evident," Schmidt said.<\/p>\n

NEW PODCAST! Michael Atkinson and Iain Payten examine the Waratahs woes and some major movement in the player market\ufeff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/rugby-world-cup-inside-line\/the-worry-tahs-can-nsw-overcome-their-current-issu\/embed?in_playlist=podcast&style=Cover<\/a><\/p>\n

Schmidt added that Force fullback Kurtley Beale was still finding his feet at the professional level after a long spell on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

"But I've coached teams against Kurtley and he's shredded us, so I know what he's capable of," he said.<\/p>\n

"I've seen it in the second Test here a few years ago with Ireland, he scored from about 40m out, ripping a decent hole in our defence."<\/p>\n

\"Beale<\/p>\n

Donaldson praised Beale's influence \ufeffin growing his own game.<\/p>\n

"He just adds that bit of confidence from the back, that voice," he told Stan Sport.<\/p>\n

"He's full of knowledge on the paddock, he never shuts up. He's given me direction which makes my job easy.<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

"I know where to kick, where to pass, where to run because he's telling me most of the time. But then just during the week as well, his preview, his review is second to none. And I think that's why we had such a good performance."<\/p>\n

Donaldson was relishing the chance to lock horns with his former NSW teammates in Perth on Saturday.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"Obviously been a circle of this one at the start of the year," he said.<\/p>\n

"It's a shame it's come so late in the tournament. But it'll be good to see some of my best mates come over. They've had a tough year as well, so they'll be up for it and it should be a quality game."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Incumbent Wallabies five-eighth Ben Donaldson gave Joe Schmidt a timely reminder of his abilities as the Western Force revived their finals hopes with an emphatic […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":393308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=393306"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":393311,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393306\/revisions\/393311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/393308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=393306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=393306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=393306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}