RWC 2015: All Blacks Dan Carter hoping to make it fourth time lucky

After three frustrating World Cups, Dan Carter, one of the finest players of his generation, is looking to right those wrongs. HUGH GODWIN reports

Despite being an All Blacks great, Carter is yet to make an impact at a Rugby World Cup (Getty Images)

Nick Evans phrases it best, as one All Black fly-half feeling the pain of another. “It’s funny,” Evans says, “I listen to sport radio when everyone is talking about the best soccer player in the world and it always comes back to: ‘Yeah, he was great, but he never did anything in the World Cup’ or ‘he won two or three, like Pele, so he’s better.’ And you can say the same for Dan Carter. Arguably one of the best players of our generation but he hasn’t done that well in a World Cup.” As Carter takes his fourth crack at winning the World Cup, all the 33-year-old has to look back on is a trio of missed chances in 2003, 2007 and 2011.

Taking the last first, the tournament four years ago ended brilliantly for New Zealand, with their 8-7 win over France in the final, but depressingly for their superstar No 10, who pulled up lame with a torn adductor muscle – “out of the blue” as the team doctor put it – in training before the concluding pool match with Canada and took no further part. In the victory parade through Auckland, it was impossible to escape the feeling the sunglasses he wore hid a regret that his own part in it had petered out.

In 2007, Carter was a controversial selection for what became an infamous quarter-final with France, as he carried a troublesome ankle into the match, limped off in the second half and New Zealand were knocked out, partly through their inability to drop a goal when they needed it – something a fit Carter could have done in his sleep. As for 2003, in his first year of Test rugby, Carter was mostly on the bench and an unused substitute in the semi-final loss to Australia, marked by the Wallabies’ captain George Gregan’s taunting chant: “Four more years, boys, four more years.”

For Carter, those four years have become 12, waiting for a final to call his own. “He’s due for some good luck, isn’t he?” is how Steve Hansen, the All Blacks’ head coach, and right-hand man to Graham Henry last time round, puts it. “I’m sure the past World Cups are in the back of Dan’s mind. He had been playing well in ’07 and he was on fire in 2011. But you can’t change history and this tournament is about him creating some new history.”

Carter, according to Hansen, has come to England “in the best shape he’s been in for a long, long time” with the help of a recent loss in weight. “He had 24 months struggling with injuries up to last year,” Hansen says. “As part of that, we built him up but we found his body couldn’t carry the extra muscle mass. When he first started he was around 86 or 87 kilos, he pulled himself up to 95kgs and now he’s back down to 92 or 93. It doesn’t sound like a lot but it seems to be working for him, he’s a lot happier, the trainer’s happy, I’m happy and he’s playing game after game after game which is great.”

Carter’s wellbeing was proven in an August win over Australia, on the back of a Super Rugby season spent regaining confidence – and his running game and defensive timing – by playing for the Crusaders mainly at inside centre. In the World Cup so far, Carter has started three of the four pool matches and collected 36 points. “He might have lost a yard of pace, but he’s still reasonably quick,” says Hansen. “Physically he is one of the best tackling first five-eighths in the business, and his passing and kicking game has just got better and better. I think he’s a way better player now than when he started – a smarter player who understands the game a lot more. He was a raw talent back then; now he’s the full package.”

Carter prepares to convert his New Zealand's second try during the match against Tonga (Getty Images)

The days “back then” are no better known than by Aaron Mauger, the inside centre who was two years above Carter at the same school – Christchurch Boys’ High – before being joined by the “country boy” from Southbridge at the Crusaders, followed by four seasons playing together for the All Blacks. Latterly, Mauger was Carter’s coach at the Crusaders.

“For a guy like Dan, 2011 was bittersweet,” says Mauger, now the new head coach at Leicester Tigers. “You want to be in amongst it, with the satisfaction of being in the key moments. He would have felt he missed out, even if he contributed in the lead-up. When he got injured, it caused anxiety right through the country – four million people nearly in tears.”

It would probably have been wise to start with me, even if I played half a game, to get that combination flowing

&#13; <p>Nick Evans, Harlequins and former New Zealand fly-half</p>&#13;

In 2007, for the quarter-final, Mauger was an unhappy bunny himself, with Luke McAllister given the No 12 shirt. “We made that match a bigger mountain than it needed to be,” Mauger recalls. “We had a good enough squad to beat anybody on that day but we lost a bit of focus. Nick Evans got injured when he went on for Dan, and Jerry Collins was concussed – a whole lot of events gathered together. With Dan, the coaches made decisions based on medical advice and what they thought was best.”

It left Evans as a third soul wounded by association. He joined Harlequins soon afterwards, never to play for the All Blacks again and he reveals now that in 2007, he trained all week at fly-half before the Saturday quarter-final, while Carter mostly rested his ankle. “I was running the sessions then Dan came in for half the captain’s run on the Friday,” Evans recalls. “When you train with one No 10 and the other comes in, it can be very disruptive, not having that combination of the forwards and backs. It would probably have been wise to start with me, even if I played half a game, to get that combination flowing. There was a lot of reshuffling in the backline; for example they put Mils [Muliaina] from full-back to centre, and left [wing] Doug Howlett out.”

So will Carter be desperate to avoid another letdown? “He wouldn’t be human if it didn’t hurt,” says Evans, “although as a sportsman, you learn how not to have those things clouding your thoughts. I saw him recently and he’s extremely motivated. He knows he’s had a bad time, this is his last World Cup and he’s prepared the best he can. For me, he’s the most important player in the All Blacks, especially with Aaron Cruden out, as there is a gap to the next fly-half. Beauden Barrett is brilliant but he’s a jack of all trades.

“For New Zealand to win, Dan Carter has to be at his best, dominating games and I think he will. Is he the player he was in 2005, obliterating the Lions single handedly? Probably not, but he’s got enough magic in him to lead the guys round the park and bring the trophy home again.”

Mauger agrees. “Dan knows where he’s from and what he’s about – his parents, Nev and Beverley, brought him up in a stable home and showed him a lot of love. That’s why he’s still going after a lot of setbacks. When Dan’s tackling well and is aggressive in the defensive line and carrying the ball to the line in attack, you know he’s on it. And it’s a dangerous sign for everybody else, because he’s the best in the world.”

So here we are again this week, Les Bleus v the All Blacks under Cardiff’s Saturday night lights. “This is the final for both sides now,” Carter said this week. And while it is true in the narrow sense that he means it, there must be more to follow if his career is to be completely fulfilled.

Dan Carter's World Cup record

2003: Started three pool games before being dropped, playing just twice more.
5 games, 2 tries, 48 points

2007: Surprise last-eight defeat to France in Cardiff.
3 games, 1 try, 40 points

2011: Ruled out with groin injury after two pool appearances.
2 games, 0 tries, 21 points

Dan Carter - his leading honours:

Rugby World Cup: 2011.

Tri Nations/Rugby Championship: Winner 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013.

British & Irish Lions series: Winner 2005.

Home Nations Grand Slam Tour: 2005, 2008, 2010.

World Player of the Year: 2005, 2012.

Currently world record Test points scorer.

Super Rugby winner (Crusaders): 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008.