One former sevens star replaced another as the hirsute Ben O’Donnell propelled the ACT Brumbies to a hard fought 43-28 win over the Fijian Drua in Canberra on Friday night.
Winger O’Donnell wore the No.11 jersey ahead of Corey Toole, who had lit up the opening rounds before being concussed by Reds lock Angus Blyth last weekend.
And the rangy 27-year-old made a similar impact at GIO Stadium, scoring a hat trick to set up the Super Rugby Pacific win and lift the Brumbies to the top of the table.
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“This is a fine player, let’s not forget. He’s been an absolute superstar of sevens. One disallowed, could have been three within the first 15 minutes,” former Wallaby Morgan Turinui said on Stan Sport.
“A few of the guys on socials calling for him for the Wallabies squad. We’re not going to say it, but…”
Former Wallabies lock Justin Harrison said O’Donnell had jokingly told him pre-game that he would score six tries against the Drua.
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“Ben O’Donnell, one direction, straight, puts that mullet through the hole and gets his body across the line. How good,” Harrison said.
Another former Wallaby, Stephen Hoiles, coached O’Donnell in his time with the Australian sevens team.
“Just look at the acceleration, to anticipate something that was going to come his way. Three or four defenders beaten in the last 10m,” Hoiles said.
A modest O’Donnell told Stan Sport that he was merely a product of the highly successful Brumbies program, now led by Stephen Larkham.
The 7-1 Brumbies now enter the bye week.
“I’ll be horizontal, golf probably then the Hurricanes (on April 28) which is a huge week,” O’Donnell said.
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham was understandably delighted even though the Hurricanes and Chiefs may knock them off the top of the ladder on Saturday.
“We’re all a bit fatigued, it’s been 10 games if you include the trial games. We’ll recalibrate going forward for these next five rounds,” Larkham said.
In Super W, the Brumbies beat the Rebels 30-23 for their first win of the season.
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