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12:05
InternationalNew Zealand

'A near faultless player' - How the rugby world is reacting to Dan Carter's retirement

Dan Carter of Racing 92 celebrates winning the Final Top 14 between Toulon and Racing 92 at Camp Nou on June 24, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain.

The rugby world is entering a new reality, one in which Dan Carter is no longer a professional rugby player.

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At 38, Carter’s retirement from the game will have surprised nobody, but it brings to an end an era in which the revered New Zealander walked the rugby world as a metaphorical god among men, the sport’s greatest of all time at 10.

Carter’s mark on the game will live on, but fans will no longer get the see him kick a ball in anger or fling an outrageous pass, at least not in a professional setting.

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“I officially retire from professional rugby today. A sport I’ve played 32 years which has helped shape me into the person I am today. I can’t thank everyone who has played a part in my journey enough, particularly you, the fans. Rugby will always be a part of my life. Thank you,” wrote Carter.

The rugby world lavished praise on Canterbury’s finest.

Nigel Owens wrote: “You will be remembered as one of the greatest ever, but more importantly, not just on the field but off it as well. A true gentleman. It was always a pleasure and privilege. Best wishes for the future.”

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Wallaby wing Drew Mitchell quipped: “Not a bad shift mate! Catch up soon for a drink.. You bring the cups, we all know you have enough.”

“

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Commentator Nick Mullins summed it up well, posting: “Dan Carter’s retired. Shaped the sport like few others. Not sure how you define “the greatest”, but he may well have been.”

World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont wrote: “End of an era. Dan Carter will be remembered as one of the greats, one of the very best. Outstanding on the biggest of stages & a super ambassador for the game. Enjoy your retirement.”

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Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 1 hour ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

It was clear when Razor started his tenure his intention was to not use Beauden, how quickly things changed.

104 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Why have you given up on Jordie at the back?

104 Go to comments
G
GodOfFriedChicken 1 hour ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Looking back at it, it was the second test and what I was referring to was the Kyle Sinckler jump into Charlie Faumuina that gave them the game winning penalty. As Read said, by that logic, players should just jump into every pass to bait the penalty.

That team still dominated its opposition in that span. As I said in another comment here, they made a tactical gamble in that semi and choked.



...

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E
Easy_Duzz-it 2 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Both player selection and style of play … we've gone backwards . Razor was just keeping us a float .

We are lucky to be 2nd in the world



...

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c
cw 2 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Agree with the head drop point. A just to clarify, the stats show a steady improvement against tier 1 (other top 5 teams) teams over the last 5 years:

2021 25%



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J
JW 2 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches



while the remainder of the spots are selected on form.

Not even. Leicester was straight in on his contract alone, and he’d only be mid tier, perhaps in the top 20 contracts.



...

104 Go to comments
c
cw 2 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Hey PMcD we normally agree - and you have identified the flaws but just for a small bit of balance the ABs this year beat France B x 3 (but with a pack that bore little or no ressemblance to the first choice pack at the end of 2024 - 5 members out with injury from memory for the first test and a completely differently configured pack in the third test) Argentina, South Africa, Australia (x 2), Ireland and Scotland. They did this with some the most potent set piece striking of all the teams - the way they opened up opposition in their 22 was quite remarkable. Did they overdo this - definitely - but they were not irredeemable especially if they sorted the third quarter malaise. Part of that has to be owned by the players.

104 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

The NH leagues have just done a better job at understanding whats happening I think. There isn’t a whole lot that needs to go into an AB attack though, if theyre allowed to just let loose they can click. Then the cat and mouse can begin again.

PB is trying to call out the players, thinking Razor was on the right track. Your post was agreeing with him. Maybe you mean to reply to GodChicken?



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c
cw 3 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Yeah the under 20s have not looked great for a while, though they made the final last year (or was that a different youth team?). But I wonder whether that reflects priorities in NZ rugby rather than a generational decline. Some of our best players are the younger guys.

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J
JW 3 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

I think that was the second test. What you are referring to was that Romain we have an deal, international grab at the ball while offside reverse call. He absolutely deliberately caught the ball. Obvious by mistake, and to his credit he knew it fast enough to confuse the officials interpretation of the law. They absolutely got that wrong.

The point that you seem to be missing due to your Crusader bias is that that team struggled in new modern football with Beauden at the helm. They did not look more cohesive at all, they looked, as they did against England in 2019, absolutely bereft of idea’s against todays modern defences.



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G
GodOfFriedChicken 3 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

He tried to get the team winning without trying to understand what he was working with and that’s why he was rejected. Hansen got his players to win, even as I mention below, during a rebuilding period where they struggled to find replacements for gold standard players like McCaw, Kaino, Smith, Nonu and still managed to win with solid but not world breaking players like Cane (when not injured), Squire, Crotty and late career SBW.

I’ll still argue that the choke in the semifinal vs England was more due to a tactical miscalculation where they tried to go tall in the lineout with Scooter at 6, expecting to play more set pieces, while England went with 2 opensides and had a lot more speed to the breakdown, keeping possession away and leading to the team choking it away for the second half. Was the team as strong as 2015? Definitely not. But I disagree with that loss being evidence of Hansen losing his players. He gambled and not all gambles work out - it’s not like the players gave up because they didn’t like the game plan.



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J
JC 3 hours ago
'Ireland are consumed by chaos, but Andy Farrell's choice of 10 is becoming clear'

100% Eric. Not a shred of, honestly, decency or integrity. Lies and constantly avoiding answering the actual questions. Just deflection and being morally outraged. However, the softest bunch of trolls you’ll likely encounter on a forum, It’s like winding up an angry thin skinned jack russell….

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J
JW 3 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

And the halves, the back three. He changed philosophy of his f/r.

Whitelock, Retallick, and Scooter, as lock, and Smith at halfback were the only well oiled parts of that team.



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104 Go to comments
J
JW 3 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

The topic is the ‘quality’ of the players. Nothing to do with whether they ‘led’ or not.

The point is that Razor was trying to get this team winning, and well, I suppose you can construe that the players didn’t like that, now that Razor has been rejected (by whowever, who is not the point of this article) it undeniably rests on the players.



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104 Go to comments
J
JC 4 hours ago
The Springboks' biggest critic might be right on this one

It’s as simple as this the top European clubs don’t want the marquee or regular bok internationals because they’re basically not getting their money’s worth and getting fleeced. They’ve learned their lessons at a cost. You just have to look at the amount of top SA internationals playing in France, England and Ireland. Gone are the days of Matfield, botha, Kolbe etc….smashing it up for Toulon, Toulouse etc….Bar Synman at Leinster and Thomas du toit at bath there isn’t any more. Klyen and Dweba are on the fringes. You have alot of good pro’s or possible unfounded rough diamonds these are better value. France was always the go too for the money but the kolisi debacle has definitely made owners and investors cuter and wiser. You can understand from a SA point of view not wanting top internationals getting flogged in the top 14 and i’m sure that’s why management have been steering the players towards a sabbatical in Japan playing tag rugby. In fairness it’ll prolong their careers and the Japanese clubs will get money through these players on sponsorship deals, selling products and endorsements. However from a sporting perspective on the pitch they’re getting very little out of alot of them. It seems at the moment this is the best for both sides as the SA international team are flourishing, keeping players fresh and the focus away from club rugby.. While the European teams know where they stand and can invest their money more wisely on commited, consistent and reliable players.

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c
cw 4 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Agree PMcD. Its about balance across the whole team. We have some of the tallest props / lifters in world rugby (Williams 195, Tosi 196, Lomax 193, de Groot 190). This I think offsets the lack of height for most oppositon. Note also that Englands main crop of loosies are not much taller if at all than these three Curry 185, Pollock 188, Underhill 186, Earl 183 vs Savea 188, Sititi 187, Lakai 186. And like you this combination should have started in London because of England’s newfound intensity. But the ABs must look to match up more closely when playing the Boks and France. This is where your 6-2 is critical. I don’t think Jacobson is the answer - he is too small at 192cm/ 108 kgs to make the necessary power impact. We need more mass - this is where Parker (197cm / 117kgs), Papali’i (193cm/113kgs) and Vaa’i (198 cm / 118 kgs) et al come in. They key is then how you configure the combinations etc.

104 Go to comments
J
JW 4 hours ago
Scott Robertson's biggest mistake as All Blacks coach

As an All Black supporter, I can understand that.

118 Go to comments
J
JC 4 hours ago
The Springboks' biggest critic might be right on this one

Unhinged, thin skinned and paranoid. Great to see the stereotype is still strong and true!

49 Go to comments
J
JW 4 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part three: Time is running out for Australia and New Zealand

One of many ways to skin a cat.

579 Go to comments
c
cw 4 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

All of that makes sense JK. But if a player is consistently underperforming they need to be managed out of the starting 23. Wellington was a shocking performance by the senior cohort. They disappeared. England was not so bad, but the same lack of onfield leadership was evident (though in fairness losing players likeTaylor, BB and Roigard in the span of minutes would have affected most teams.) A coach must be able replace / stand down players who repeatedly underperform or are a negative influence whatever their contract terms. Rassie dumping Pollard, de Allande, Kriel, Eben, Le Roux et al for the Wellington test is testament to that. And it seems to me Robertson did not wield the axe enough. Joseph has had his own problems with man management but that experience has him ideally placed to apply the surgical knife as needed.

104 Go to comments
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