Dan Carter reveals the key to success for All Blacks at next year's World Cup
All Blacks legend Dan Carter has offered some insight as to how New Zealand can win next year’s World Cup in France, drawing comparisons between the current national squad and the team that rose from the ashes of the 2007 World Cup.
Carter was a key member of the All Blacks squad that suffered their worst-ever showing in World Cup history when they were famously bundled out at the quarter-final stage of the 2007 event by France in one of the tournament’s biggest upset results.
In the years after that defeat, the All Blacks took an introspective look at themselves to identify and address their shortcomings from that World Cup to avoid a repeat of such a disaster in future tournaments.
What they found was that, as perennial World Cup favourites, they were ill-equipped to deal with pressure, and subsequently crumbled under the weight of expectation when faced with adversity from Les Bleus in Cardiff 15 years ago.
As such, Carter and his All Blacks teammates spent plenty of time working with mental skills specialists in order to improve themselves in the lead-up to the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.
The result was a first World Cup victory in 24 years as the All Blacks won the Webb Ellis Cup against France on home soil, before following it up with an historic second successive title in England four years later.
Speaking on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, Carter said the lessons he and his All Blacks teammates learned about coping with pressure and adversity were critical in their title-winning exploits at the 2011 and 2015 World Cups.
“A lot of the work and success that we had in 2011 and 2015 was off the back of the learnings that we got in 2007,” Carter told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“We learned that we needed to spend a lot more time on our mental strength, the mental side of the game, because we weren’t able to handle pressure. There was a lot of talk about the All Blacks being chokers come World Cup time.
“As soon as we got put under pressure, we didn’t perform, so we spent a lot of work with [mental skills coaches] Ceri Evans, Gilbert Enoka, working on our mental strength and actually walking towards pressure.
“That really helped us, even though we had a blip in 2009 when the Springboks absolutely dominated us in three test matches, but we managed to turn things around in 2010 and 2011.”
After having retired from international rugby following the 2015 World Cup, Carter has maintained a high level of interest in the All Blacks as a spectator from afar.
Like most New Zealanders, the former 112-test first-five, who retired from all rugby early last year, watched on as the All Blacks crashed out of the 2019 World Cup in Japan, falling to a 19-7 semi-final defeat at the hands of England.
Unlike most Kiwis, though, Carter views that defeat as a positive for New Zealand’s chances ahead of next year’s World Cup in France.
Carter told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod that he sees similarities between the current group of All Blacks and the team that developed after the 2007 World Cup as there are members of Ian Foster’s squad who have now experienced failure at rugby’s highest level.
No member of Sir Steve Hansen’s 2019 squad had gone through the heartbreak of falling short at World Cup before, but Carter said that will be different next year when those who featured at the 2019 World Cup return to Foster’s squad in 2023.
Carter told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod that those players, especially the senior leaders, will be hurt by that defeat, as were the experienced heads from the 2007 World Cup who went on to redeem themselves in 2011 and 2015.
Carter sees that as beneficial for the current crop of All Blacks, provided they channel those emotions into lessons about how to overcome their shortcomings from three years ago.
“I shouldn’t be saying this, but what I like is, in 2019, that would have really hurt a lot of the [All Blacks], in particular the experienced [All Blacks],” Carter told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“2019 would have really hurt. In 2015 and 2011, there were players in that World Cup squad that knew what it was like to lose at a Rugby World Cup, so there was still a lot of hurt, a lot of learnings from those experiences.
“You got to 2019, there was no one in the squad that had been part of a losing World Cup squad. They’d only had success, with the likes of the 2011 and 2015.
“For 2023, there are going to be players there that were there in 2019 that have that hurt, that have that drive, that have that desperation, so I see it as a positive.
“I know I probably shouldn’t, that we didn’t win that last one, but as long as they use those learnings and the experience and that drive, that hurt that they went through in Japan, then it can be really beneficial for them.”
Comments on RugbyPass
harry potter is set in stone. he creates stability and finishes well. exactly what schmidt likes. he’s the ben smith of australian rugby. i think it could quite easily be potter toole and kellaway for the foreseeable future.
5 Go to commentsThis is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
2 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
5 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to comments