06 DAN’S DEADLY DROP
Having failed to successfully land the winning drop goal in the 1995 World Cup final or get remotely close to doing so in the 2007 quarterfinal defeat to France, the All Blacks earned a reputation for not being able to land pressure field goals.
Daniel Carter didn’t like the idea that neither he nor his New Zealand teammates had the bottle for the big occasion drop goal and he practised the art relentlessly before and during the 2015 tournament.
In the final, the All Blacks were reduced to 14 men and saw their 21-3 lead cut to 21-17.
The All Blacks were in danger of seeing the game taken from them when Carter, from 40 metres out, landed a huge drop goal to increase the lead to seven points with 10 minutes to go.
It was a huge moment. He had hit the ball perfectly from a long way out. It gave the All Blacks relief on the scoreboard and changed the momentum back in their favour.
“It can be a bit of a psychological blow to the opposition when you’re down to 14 men and you concede points. I just wanted to control the game a little bit and it was good to take the chance,” Carter said. “Luckily it flew o the boot pretty well. I think I missed all seven in the warm up. To nail that one was pretty pleasing.
“It’s something we work extremely hard on, setting up dropped goal plays. We have for months now. It’s not really in the New Zealand psyche and we haven’t had to use it because all our games up until now haven’t been as close as that one tonight.”