Stephen Donald, who has at least three Facebook pages dedicated to condemning his performances as an All Black, made his World Cup debut in the final as a replacement, took over the goalkicking duty from a misfiring Piri Weepu, and landed a 46th-minute penalty that turned out to be the winning points.

After the 8-7 triumph he and New Zealand will never forget, Donald was told he'll never have to pay for a drink for the rest of his life.

Donald incurred the wrath of New Zealanders almost a year ago to the day, when he substituted in for Dan Carter in Hong Kong with the All Blacks leading Australia 24-12. Donald's errors led to a 26-24 loss, New Zealand's first in 16 tests, and the end of its 10-match winning streak against the Wallabies. Carter's understudy for three seasons became unwanted this year.

"I'd be pretty suicidal if I took too much notice of what's going on out there," Donald said of the criticism. "I've always prided myself on fronting up, not trying to prove people wrong, but just trying to do your job. And at the end of the day all you can do is ask for respect from the guys in the changing room, and the boys have been great to me.

"The other stuff, I try not to take too much notice of it. Your family and friends, you can see when they text you that there must be something going on out there in the media world and Facebook world, I hear. It's probably them that get in arguments at pubs ... but I just brush it all off." Donald joined the All Blacks only last week as their fourth-choice flyhalf. Initial World Cup squad members Carter then Colin Slade were sidelined with groin injuries, and the 22-year-old Aaron Cruden carried the team from the quarterfinals.

Donald replaced Slade in the squad. He missed urgent calls from coach Graham Henry because he doesn't answer to numbers he doesn't know. Plus he was out whitebait fishing, relaxing with a friend and drinking beer beside the Waikato River. It took a call from senior All Black Mils Muliaina for him to answer the phone and get to Auckland ASAP. It was a doubly good day, he said, because he collected 11 kilograms of whitebait.

When Cruden injured his knee near the end of the first half in the final, Donald was sent in.

"The fitness was probably not what it could be but luckily I only had to survive 50 minutes and I got through," he said. "I felt ready, it was a strange feeling that came over me. It felt good. I've had five weeks off kicking the ball but I kicked pretty well." Donald contributed with great defense and kicks for touch. Weepu missed three goalkicks in the first half, so he asked Donald at halftime to take over and Donald was happy to oblige.

He only had to take one shot at goal, from 32 meters, and showed no nerves.

"I was always confident if I got the job I'd be able to take it. I knew (it was over) when it came off (my foot)," he said. "I certainly wasn't lining it up and thinking this was for the World Cup, it was about doing my job. It gave us eight points and that's all we got." Henry told Donald after the match he was proud of him.

"He was tremendous," Henry said. "He is a great team person and very popular among the group. He is very professional and has had some stick in the past and probably deserved it. It was good he came through to kick the penalty and play some good footy in the second half." Inside center Ma'a Nonu echoed Henry.

"It's funny how the world works," Nonu said. "He was at the bottom of the ladder, lots of haters getting him down, but he came through, kicked that goal and won us the World Cup." The final was probably Donald's last match for the All Blacks, as he will take up a two-year contract with English club Bath. It was still too early for it to be sinking in that he was a World Cup champion, but he was looking forward to it.

"People questioned my All Black work and I was pretty proud to put in a decent performance out there," he said. "You pride yourself on fronting up and you don't always agree with what's written about you and said about you but I was excited about going out in what was potentially my last game for the All Blacks and prove I'm a genuine All Black."