The All Blacks end of year tour is always eagerly anticipated and this one, concluded last night against Wales, was even more closely scrutinized for two high profile reasons. Sonny Bill Williams returning to rugby union – and straight back into the All Blacks – and Dan Carter coming back from yet another long injury layoff. Sonny Bill is always going to polarize public opinion, even though he has the full backing of all and sundry at All Black HQ, but the main focus would have been on Carter.
Making a case for why the All Blacks need the star fly half fit and firing seems an exercise in futility as the entire rugby world is well aware that ‘DC’, as he is commonly monikered, is still considered one of the game’s biggest draw cards.
The issue isn’t in his ability. Even though his form on this tour has been patchy to say the least, a look at the great man’s stats makes for compelling reading. Carter is the leading points scorer in test matches with a tally of nearly 1500 points in 102 test matches for New Zealand. He has been twice named the best player in the world in 2005 and 2012, is a Rugby World Cup winner and has a plethora of Bledisloe Cups, Super Rugby trophies and Rugby Championship medals to his name.
You cannot fault his desire either. His cruel injury during the 2011 world cup where a torn groin tendon ended his on field participation helping his country win their first Webb Ellis trophy since 1987 is surely being used by Carter as potent motivation to be the preferred All Black flyhalf come next year in the UK.
Carter’s biggest struggle will come in the form of his body. Crippling injuries since 2011 have limited his involvement, and each time he makes a return to the field the All Blacks and their fans collectively hold their breaths wondering if their star will get through the match unscathed.
Just as Carter needs the All Blacks, so too do the All Blacks need Carter. It seems desperate to have to depend on one player’s body, but if the All Blacks are to make history and be the first team to retain the World Cup next year, their man Carter has to be fit and on his A-game.
A noticeable and not-to-be-ignored issue for the ABs this season is that their incumbent flyhalves, Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett, have not been wholly convincing in filling Carter’s immense boots. Cruden’s goal kicking inconsistency and general lapses in concentration at crucial periods doesn’t inspire confidence particularly if the game is tight, while Barrett has proven that he is best coming off the bench when the game needs to be broken up. The mercurial talent he has as a game breaker has not, yet, been replicated over a full 80 minute match.
Both men have had flashes of brilliance and pulled off some magical moments, but a world cup is won with a steady hand – or boot in this case – and it does not seem tenable for the All Blacks to go into a crunch playoff match with a flyhalf that cannot steer the ship when the game is tight or throws speculative passes in the hope of a glorious outcome when disciplined focus is a better option. It isn’t a palatable prospect either having your flyhalf’s boot disappear in a tight match when his team needs 3 points.
For all their abilities, which this scribe is not denying, neither Cruden nor Barrett have put on reassuring consistent performances that would warrant either of them having the right to be called the All Blacks first choice number 10. It’s true that Cruden probably had the inside running on Barrett until his drunken antics at several Auckland bars led him to miss a team flight to Argentina and, subsequently, stood down for 2 important matches, but since then one gets the sense that Steve Hansen can’t make up his mind on who his man is.
This is the All Blacks and so there is a third option in the form of Colin Slade. After announcing my intention to pen this piece, my colleague, Paige, had a completely different take on things. She felt the All Blacks would be better served using Colin Slade as their number one fly half. It’s an argument based on merit as Slade is probably the most consistent of the three and he was the preferred number 10 at the last world cup when Carter succumbed to injury. Plus, Slade performed exceptionally well during the super rugby season with the Crusaders when , interestingly, he had none other than Carter playing next to him in the 12 jersey. However, Hansen has increasingly opted to go with either Cruden or Barrett and it is highly unlikely he will take Slade to the world cup if he has Carter, Cruden and Barrett all fit.
With Carter’s body increasingly bowing to injuries you can’t fault Hansen for cultivating as many options as possible to offset a scenario of not having Carter available. But if Carter can stay fit all of these permutations become a moot point because a fit Carter automatically walks into Hansen’s team.
And rightly so.
It isn’t about Hansen not wanting to let his ageing stars head off into retirement; it’s that he understands how foolish it would be to disregard the value the likes of Carter and Richie McCaw bring to the All Blacks. Questions will be asked about whether Carter can regain the kind of form to set the rugby world alight as only he can, but fans and detractors should already know the answer to this.
Of course he can.
The only issue here is his body holding up under the strains of international rugby. As my father likes to say, ‘Form is temporary, but class is permanent.’ If Carter can stay healthy and play consecutive matches there is no question that he can produce the magic we have become accustomed to seeing.
The All Blacks will certainly need him to do so.
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