Those who usually prefer a sprinkling of competitive spice over their sporting fare would probably have been left cold by the one-sided nature of Scotland’s 66-19 rout of the underpowered Barbarians at Murrayfield last week. But even they would have found something undeniably warming in the moment, just as the match tipped into its final quarter, when Donnie Macfadyen intercepted a pass near his 22 and scorched off towards halfway, a sharp and cleverly angled break that ended with a try for replacement scrum-half Sam Pinder.
Against the backdrop of a game that ended with a 47-point winning margin and nine tries in the Scotland credit column, it could hardly be argued that Donnie’s contribution had a particularly significant bearing upon the result. But in the context of a career that has only recently seen him come back from a persistent and seemingly endlessly frustrating knee injury, his blast out of defence was a ringing proclamation that he could yet return to the form that had marked him out as one of Europe’s outstanding loose forwards before his progress was so rudely interrupted last year.
Pleasure in his personal redemption could be shared by anyone who understood the mischievously effective role of Donnie for both Glasgow and Scotland, but was heightened for those who appreciated the fact that his personal characteristics are as admirable as anything he offers on the field of play. As a conversation at Murrayfield the previous day suggested, the restoration of Macfadyen’s physical prowess is matched by a personality as polite and engaging as ever, his spirited outlook undaunted by the pelting of slings and arrows of outrageous sporting misfortune he had suffered over the previous 16 months.
A less durable individual would surely have worn the scars of embitterment after a period in which his hopes were repeatedly raised and then dashed by a series of maddening relapses that delayed his return to action. Among the rugby chattering classes, the rumour began to spread that his career could even be over, mirroring the path followed by his former Scotland team-mate Tom Philip, but throughout the interregnum Donnie retained his indomitable outlook, encouraged all the way by Glasgow physiotherapist Bob Stewart and doctor Gerry Haggerty, so much that he can now reflect on the experience with wry good humour.
"When I spoke to you at the start of the season, I think I said I would be back playing in a couple of weeks," he said, smiling at the recollection of a conversation last August that had marked just another false dawn on his journey from darkness into light. "That was what I genuinely thought at the time. A few days later, I was out training, and I remember saying that if we had a game that weekend then I possibly could have played. But then, the following Monday, it got bad again."
Even at that stage, recovery from what had seemed, when he picked it up in training the previous January, to be nothing more than a minor cartilage injury, was already long overdue. All of which only added to the frustration as one deadline after another passed without his return to competitive rugby. As a consequence, Donnie and his medical advisers sat down together to draw up a new plan of action.
"It was after that flare-up that we got together and decided it would be best to take a long-term look at the injury, rather than keep worrying about getting fit for the following week," he explained. "It was a matter of accepting that it was going to take a lot longer, and making sure we got it right.
"I think they recognised that we were basically banging our heads against a brick wall, getting nowhere. I pride myself on being a positive person, but it was starting to get me down. I was so frustrated by it.
"It took some pressure off, not having to worry about an exact date for a comeback, but then you have the worry about getting back at all. That’s a different level of pressure. I was very lucky to have the support I had, because I was told just to take two weeks off and try not to think about it."
Donnie cashed in the prescription by taking a fortnight’s break in San Diego. Away from rugby, and rugby worries, the healing process finally began. "The first treatment session I did when I got back produced a clear improvement," he said. "That was fantastic, so the advice I had been given was obviously spot on. After trying so hard for so long, eight or 10 months of not getting anywhere, that little break seemed to do the trick.
"It feels good now. I was told that I couldn’t just go straight back into training with the team every day, that it had to be managed, so for the first month or so I would train one day then not train the next, just to make sure I wasn’t overloading it. But for the last two or three weeks it has been good and I’ve been able to train just about every session, which is fantastic."
Donnie made his comeback in a Celtic League match against Cardiff Blues just two months ago. By then, of course, Scotland’s vastly improved showing in the recent RBS Six Nations had seen Jason White, Ally Hogg and Simon Taylor establish themselves as the first-choice test back row, but the knee ligament damage suffered by Taylor soon highlighted the need for quality back-up. Moreover, as a snaffling, low-slung flanker, Donnie is a very different player from Hogg, the most recent Scotland openside, and coach Frank Hadden is an admirer of his classic foraging play.
Knowing his return was, at last, on the cards, watching the Six Nations was a strange experience for Donnie. With nine Scotland appearances behind him, his enjoyment of his country’s victories over England and France soon gave way to a kind of longing.
"It is a very odd experience to watch something like that, the emotions you go through are bizarre," he said. "When things are happening you’re as excited as any other Scotsman, but then after the game you start to think what could have been and all the other implications.
"But if you start dwelling on stuff like that you just drive yourself crazy. I was happy for the guys but determined to use what they had done as motivation for myself to get back playing and be involved with a good side."
Shortly before four o’clock this afternoon, Donnie will take another step on that journey when he boards an aeroplane at Edinburgh airport for the first leg of the trip to South Africa and Scotland’s two-test summer challenge against the Springboks. Among the less enthusiastic travellers in the party, there might be a sense of dread about the flight to Johannesburg that lies in store.
For Donnie, however, just a sense of relief. His long-haul journey is over.
Article taken from The Herald.