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Why 36-year-old Dan Carter is still the main man in World Rugby
Dan Carter led the Kobe Kobelco Steelers to victory in the Top League final this weekend, and with that victory the former New Zealand fly-half wins over the hearts of yet another nation.
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Carter played a pivotal role against his old foe Matt Giteau, where the Steelers thrashed the Suntory Sungoliath by 55-5.
This wasn’t a one-off performance by the 36-year old, as he was named as Japan’s MVP in the Top League this season. It’s easy to see why he deserves this kind of award. In the semi-final against Toyota Verblitz, Carter notched up an impressive 21 points with a try and four penalties.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, the former World Player of the Year scored a massive 28 points in the round before that, in the sides 63-27 win over the Ricoh Black Rams.
Carter is yet to have lost a game for the Steelers since he joined the club and it is a testament to the impact he has had on the team who were in second place when he arrived.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrZ7iAeA6NY/
Since Carter’s arrival to Japan in September, the Top League has enjoyed far greater attention from the Rugby World. Other notable players in this league include Australia legend Matt Giteau and South Africa heavyweight Duane Vermeulen, but none of these players have been able to garner the same amount of attention on the league as Carter.
It is fair to argue that since New Zealand won the World Cup final in 2015, Carter has carried with him a status as one of the best tens of all time. In a similar fashion to Jonny Wilkinson at Toulon, the New Zealander appears to have retained the most important aspects of his game which keep him competent at a high level.
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This illustrates how valuable an asset he is to any club, as he is a big name signing who has always been a consistent performer.
At Parisian side Racing 92, Carter famously helped steer the team to their first Top 14 title in 20 years. When the full-time whistle was blown, all cameras were on one man. With 15 points to his name, Carter proved yet again to the Rugby World that he was not simply signed to sell shirts, but he was in fact a crucial member of the team who could win trophies at the highest level.
In May of this year, RugbyPass spoke to Carter who spoke honestly about how ageing athletes need to train smarter in order to prolong their careers at the highest level. Speaking about approaching games he said,
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“You can’t run around the training field like a young 20-year-old anymore. You actually have to train a lot smarter and use the experience that you’ve had throughout your career and this certainly affects the way in which you prepare for a game.”
From watching the Kobelco Steelers’ ten in action, it is apparent that he no longer has the speed in his legs that stunned the British & Irish Lions team in 2005, or the acceleration in his feet that helped him outrun the Waratahs in the 2008 Super 14 final. What is evident however, is that Carter still and always will preserve his vision for a game which has helped him to dictate the pace and style of a match for his team.
Full interview below…
Comments on RugbyPass
Well where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to comments