“We never really sat down formally and had a chat about it. It just figured itself out really, and it is working out.“

Former teammates in the silver-medal winning Australian under 20s in 2019, Harrison was the youngster who progressed into Super Rugby fastest, debuting for NSW in 2020 and holding the no.10 jersey for the whole year.

Donaldson came off the bench eight times and had injury problems heading into the 2021 season, but he finally got his chance in the no.10 midway through last year’s winless season against the Force.

It was a dominant performance and he held the role, forcing Harrison to no.15, until injury forced Donaldson out again. And Harrison returned to the no.10 to finish the season.

Summer has seen Donaldson win back the five-eighth spot, however, and though Harrison injured a shoulder playing no.12 in a trial, the Randwick 22-year-old is keen to finally get an extended run.

“It is obviously my preferred position and I feel like I am going pretty well at the moment,” he said.

“That’s where I definitely see myself for as long as I can hold it. But I guess time will tell. It just depends on how I play now. DC [Darren Coleman] has said the boys starting tomorrow have our heads in front. But that can change so easily with a bad game or whatever.”

Donaldson said he’s excited to line up against Wallabies star James O’Connor, who was named at no.10 in a strong Reds team on Friday. Jordan Petaia and Jock Campbell also return from a week off with COVID-19.

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“He has been around for a while now and done some good things, he’s in the Wallabies,” Donaldson said.

“I am really excited to be honest, just to test myself and see where I am actually at and see if I am up for that next level. The other day against Noah, one of my mates as well, it was good to go up against him because he has been in the Australian mix as well and test my skills against him.”

Watch every match of the Six Nations on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. Continues this weekend with Wales v Scotland (Sunday 1:10am AEDT), France v Ireland (Sunday 3:40am AEDT) and Italy v England (Monday 1:55am AEDT) all streaming ad-free, live and on demand only on Stan Sport.

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