Dan Carter's embarrassing first time meeting rugby superstar: 'I was giving him advice like he was my own son'
Dan Carter, who always seems down for a good time, has revealed the one night he “embarrassed” himself in front of England lock Maro Itoje during a night out.
Itoje was the latest guest on the All Black great’s ‘Kickin It’ video series on his Facebook page where he speaks to rugby players from around the world.
During their conversation, along with Scottish journalist Lee McKenzie, Itoje mentioned the first time he met Carter after the 2016 European Rugby Champions Cup final, where they had a few post-tournament drinks.
“The first time I met him (Carter) was when I played against him in the 2016 Champions Cup final which was pretty cool,” said Itoje, who went on to claim a man of the match performance with Saracens to defeat Carter’s Racing 92.
“The best part – apart from winning obviously – was when we saw each other after the game and we both had one or two drinks in us.”
Carter then shared his embarrassment about how he acted around the young rugby star, after perhaps one or two too many drinks.
“I woke the next day and I was so embarrassed because like you mention, I probably had too many lemonades and I just remember at the bar I had my hand around you.
“I’ve never met the guy before but it obviously followed the amazing Six Nations that you had that season and your Champions Cup success, man of the match. I had my arm around him and I was like, you’re awesome.
“I was giving him advice like he was my own son: ‘Now you got to keep your feet on the ground, make sure you stay humble, you work hard.’ I woke up and was like ‘man this guy is going to think that I was an absolute idiot’. Probably thought I was fanboying him.”
Itoje laughingly responded: “It was a great day. It was all solid, very good advice.”
The 25-year-old lock was one of the best players at last year’s Rugby World Cup and played a big part in England’s semifinal win over the All Blacks.
However, his first time facing the All Blacks was for the Lions in 2017.
When asked about his experience facing the All Blacks haka, Itoje recalled his experience during the Lions tour.
“The first time I faced the haka was in 2017. Obviously we were there for the Lions tour. So we got off the plane, we had a haka as our welcome … then a couple games later we had the first game and we had the haka. Then we’ll go to another place and we would have a different haka. So as you can imagine, by the end of the tour I was all haka’d out.”
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Itoje said he still respected the haka and grew up watching it.
“I remember growing up [watching] the haka of the New Zealand players – and not only the haka but also the Pacific Island warrior dances – before games and I’m thinking ‘this is so cool’.
“But in terms of my strategy, I just try to remain focused on the game. I don’t think too much into it. It’s interesting because you’ve seen numerous teams do different things against the haka. You’ve seen guys like beating their chest or marching towards it or you’ve seen guys with different symbols or whatever. But a lot of the times, people do different things and they get whooped.
“So the most important thing is making sure you’re ready to go out there and play some good rugby. That’s my focus.”
Itoje also said one of the players he grew up idolising was All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu.
“I was pretty late to rugby,” he said in response to a fan question asking about who inspired him to play rugby. “I started playing rugby when I was 11 years old. So between 11 and 13, 14, my interest in rugby was growing at an exponential rate.
“Then I was like logging on to YouTube and watching all these highlight reels and all these players. And one player which made me want to completely change positions straightaway was Jonah Lomu. I watched him and I was like ‘Wow this guy’s doing this? This guy is so strong and so powerful’.”
Comments on RugbyPass
smith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
37 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
37 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
37 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
37 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
37 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
37 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
37 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
37 Go to comments