Just over two weeks ago, Donald was sitting on the banks of the Waikato River, looking for whitebait.
On Sunday night, his successful penalty kick early in the second half proved the difference in the All Blacks' nail-biting 8-7 World Cup final win over France.
Donald (27) has had a much-maligned career but he said playing in the black jersey ultimately came down to being answerable to your team-mates.
"I have not tried to take much notice of it [criticism]. [With] your family and friends, you sort of see it when they text you, that something must be going on out there in the media world.
"It is probably them that get into arguments in pubs and stand-offs, but to me I just brush it all off. The guys here have been special, too. I would be pretty suicidal if I took too much notice of what is going on out there.
"I have always prided myself on fronting up and it is not about trying to prove people wrong. It is about doing a job. All you can ask for is respect from the guys in the changing room. That is the reason you play the game. Whatever else happens, happens."
Donald came into the squad when Colin Slade went down in the quarterfinal against Argentina and then came on to the field in the final when starting No 10 Aaron Cruden was forced off the field after hyper-extending his knee, shortly before halftime.
Donald, clad in a supertight jersey, was not nervous when he went on to the field.
"I was excited about the opportunity. I felt ready to go on. It was a good opportunity to get out there and help contribute to an All Black victory."
His penalty kick was straight in front about 30m out and he just managed to squeeze it through the uprights.
"It felt good. I was pretty confident standing over it. It was a kick that had to be kicked. At the time I did not realise the significance of it. It took us out to eight points and at the end of the day that was all we got."
He said an off-target Piri Weepu had told him to take the penalty, and he had eagerly taken up the offer.
The last four minutes of the game went quickly, Donald said, as the home side's forward pack wound the clock down.
"At the start of those four minutes we were not necessarily thinking we're going to run down the clock completely. That was the way it panned out and where their [France's] back three was sitting, a box kick was going to go down their throat.
"Then suddenly it was two minutes. Once you get to two minutes down I thought maybe we can suck the life out of this. I was still nervous . . . but as it panned out we won the penalty, Thorny [Brad Thorn] won the lineout and Andy [Ellis] kicked it out.
"I jumped around like an idiot like I normally do, pretty excited. Looking up at the clock and the seconds were ticking down and I thought, we are going to win this thing."
Donald, who leaves to play for Bath in the English premiership in a few weeks, said the feeling of the dressing room straight after the game was subdued as the players were coming to terms with being World Cup champions.
"You would expect it to be crazy but we are just sitting around having a beer. It hasn't really sunk in yet but I'm sure over the next wee while it will. At the moment we're just reflecting on what has gone down."