‘We let our country down’: Donaldson opens up on Wallabies' World Cup exit

The 24^th of September 2023. For Wallabies fans who’d travelled all the way to France for last year’s Rugby World Cup, it’s a date they won’t soon forget for unwanted reasons.

Following Australia’s historic defeat to Fiji one week earlier at Saint-Etienne’s Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium, the Wallabies needed to beat Wales to recapture control of their own destiny.

While the Aussies managed to stay in the fight for the first quarter of the Test, New Zealand-born replacement Gareth Anscombe came on and inspired a dominant Welsh victory.

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When referee Wayne Barnes brought an end to the Test on that fateful September night in Lyon, the scoreboard read 40-6 – a record World Cup defeat for Australia, and it left them in tatters.

Australia needed to beat Portugal a week later back in Saint-Etienne – which they did – and then hope that Os Lobos could upset Fiji in the final pool match of the tournament.

Portugal did win in the upset of the tournament, but not by enough. Fiji secured a losing bonus point as they booked their ticket to the World Cup playoffs for the first time in 16 years.

The Wallabies bundled out of the tournament before the quarter-finals for the first time ever. As Wallaby Ben Donaldson discussed, it’s a memory that “lingered” for quite some time.

“It was not the kind of way or the results that we wanted, nor expected,” Donaldson told RugbyPass. “Deep down we thought we would go further in the competition and we probably should have.

“It was obviously very disappointing bowing out before the quarters.

“It took a couple of months – probably up until the start of pre-season here with the Force to kind of get over that.

“As soon as the World Cup finished we’re on break for seven or eight weeks so you’re not doing any rugby, you’re just with your friends, with your partners just chilling out but that’s always lingering in the back of your mind.

“What could I have done better? What could we have done better? Because essentially we let our country down. We didn’t play the kind of footy we wanted to.

“That lingered for a long time but once we got back into pre-season and started training again your mindset switches a bit.

“Trying to leave that in the past now – what’s happened, happened, as disappointing as it is.

“I took a lot of good learnings out of it and hopefully they can just make myself a better player at the Western Force and Australia – the Wallabies – in the future.”

What followed for Australian rugby was unprecedented. Chairman Hamish McLennan was publicly told to resign by six member union states, and coach Jones jumped ship to Japan.

Wing Mark Nawaqanitawase has also made the decision to leave rugby union after penning a deal with NRL powerhouse the Sydney Roosters from 2025. There’s a lot going on.

Jones’ exit was the story of the Australian summer, though, with the coach having denied links to Japan since the press conference after the Wales loss. But Jones was officially unveiled as the Brave Blossoms’ new head coach in December.

While Donaldson did consider it “disappointing” to see the Wallabies’ coach leave Australian rugby, the playmaker had nothing but positive things to say about Jones.

“Honest opinion, being in camp, being with him day to day, he was really good for me,” Donaldson said.

“He was honest, he would tell you exactly how it is; how you’re going, what you need to work on, he’d let you know if you’re doing something terrible.

“For me, that’s kind of what I needed because I wasn’t playing a lot in The Rugby Championship. I needed to know what to work on to try and get into the team.

“For me, that was really good and I really appreciated that from him.

“Then moving forward into the World Cup, obviously him just backing me to start in all four of those games was really awesome.

“How it’s all panned out now, it’s disappointing but our relationship in the past – in camp and stuff like that – he was good to me and I appreciate what he did for me.”

The past is the past, though, and that cannot be changed. The 2023 World Cup Wallabies will unfortunately be remembered for unwanted reasons – but that can be a good thing.

Australian rugby is going through a rapid transition period at the moment. If the Wallabies can pull it off, last year’s World Cup disappointment can be the catalyst for growth and progress.

For Donaldson, who signed with the Western Force last year after the NSW Waratahs chose not to re-sign the 24-year-old, that means focusing on some clearly defined goals.

“The first one is definitely just to get the starting 10 (role at the Western Force). Second one, as a team we’ve got a goal to win Super Rugby… we’ve got a genuine goal to win Super Rugby.

“Just play consistent footy. Last year I had a couple of good games, a couple of poor games, very inconsistent. It’s hard for your team to play good footy week in, week out, when your number 10 is playing inconsistent footy.

“For me, it’s just working really hard each day and playing a seven or an eight every game. If I can do that and I can be confident in my role, the team can be confident in me and they’ll be confident in themselves.

“Outside of that, making the Wallabies squad and being the number 10 for the Wallabies is a goal.”