Haven't we already said goodbye to the great Dan Carter? His real retirement was years ago
We’re unlikely to ever see a farewell tour quite like it.
Daniel Carter’s career ended in triumph, as he helped propel New Zealand to the 2015 Rugby World Cup title.
Injury had robbed the great first five-eighth of the opportunity to participate in the team’s 2011 triumph, but he was not to be denied four years later.
There had been instances in between in which Carter’s form had not been compelling. Where others, such as Aaron Cruden, pressed strong claims for the All Blacks’ No.10 jersey.
But the faith in Carter of head coach Steve Hansen never wavered. When others suggested Carter was a spent force, Hansen said time and again that “Dessie’’ would come good when it counted.
Hansen was right and Carter was able to walk away from the test arena with the praise of the rugby world ringing in his ears.
It’s been strange, six years on, to hear another chorus of that stuff.
To be told that Carter was officially retiring and to see the great and the good line up to congratulate him on a fine career and to wonder aloud where he sits among the greats of the game.
Haven’t we done that already? How many times are we obliged to mark the end of a man’s playing days? Assuming we could have still classified Carter as an active player anyway.
There will be those around the world who potentially rank other five-eighths ahead of Carter. Here in New Zealand he is the absolute benchmark and it’s hard to imagine anyone ever being a more complete pivot than him.
Carter the man and Carter the player were the complete package, beloved and admired by all. You can’t say much better than that.
This time last year the “class is permanent” brigade were out in force, following the great man’s signing by the Blues. We were all being told how he might dominate Super Rugby and potentially make his new team prohibitive favourites for the title.
Only class isn’t permanent. Carter’s place in rugby history will never be erased, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a use-by date.
Carter was 37, turning 38, and coming off neck surgery and the claims made on his behalf last year were absurd.
Was he taking a full part in training? Could he make the 23 this week? How much is everyone learning off him? Would it be weird for the Crusaders to play against him?
We were treated to an endless stream of Dan-related updates, but just one game of footy. For Southbridge, a world away from Super Rugby.
But you don’t judge Carter on that. Nor what he’s done in Japan or whether he did or didn’t light up French club rugby.
The man’s career was over by then and he did well to keep being paid a healthy wage and to maintain the strength of his personal brand. Carter knew the value of social and traditional media and did a great job of keeping himself relevant.
Such are his good looks, charm and rugby intellect that you assume he’ll remain in demand and in the public eye. People love Carter and that won’t change.
But, without wanting to labour the point too much, his real retirement came years ago. And in a fashion befitting a man who’d won every other relevant trophy going.
Sunday’s announcement was all a bit unnecessary.
Comments on RugbyPass
There’s value gleaned from having an All Black star running and training with your team. How many games he starts (or even where he plays in the backline) will be decided on a week by week basis based on the needs for that week. But the overall learning and growth for all concerned, I’d think, is massively beneficial. Especially for Irish players.
7 Go to commentsSon, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
7 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
132 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
132 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
132 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
7 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
7 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
132 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
3 Go to comments