Carter reveals noble plans
All Blacks great Dan Carter has vowed to help underprivileged children and developing rugby nations when he hangs up his boots after his two years in Japan.
Carter has just finished a threeyear stint in France with Racing 92 and gave a lengthy interview to sign off his time in Paris.
He and his family will spend the next three weeks in France – Carter was mixing with tennis ace Roger Federer this week with the French Open on – before Carter takes up his new Japanese deal in July.
His family will stay in New Zealand while he plays for Kobe Steelers.
Carter confirmed this would be the final playing phase of his illustrious career.
‘‘I’ve signed for two years there and to be honest I can’t see myself playing after my contract finishes in Japan,’’ the former world player of the year said at a press conference.
‘‘All good things come to an end. I’ll just make sure I’ll make the most of it over the next two years.’’
Looking beyond that Carter said he wanted to use rugby to help other people once he hung up his boots.
‘‘I have this amazing life that I live and it’s through the hard work that I’ve done that’s given me that life but rugby has given me everything,’’ the 36-year-old said.
‘‘When I decide to finally retire and finish playing, I want to use rugby to give back to people, whether it’s to underprivileged people, to children, to rugbydeveloping countries – in exactly what context I’m not sure. It’s almost my duty to use rugby to give back.’’
Carter dismissed claims he was taking an easy option to sign off in Japan.
‘‘In Japan, rugby is growing at a dramatic rate. You just have to look at the success the Japan team have had – they should have beaten France in November (it was a 23-23 draw) and they beat South Africa in the last World Cup. It’s a competition I’m looking forward to experiencing.’’
He felt Japan would be a good place to finish a career that saw him play 112 tests for New Zealand, score a world record 1598 test points, win two World Cups and virtually everything at club and provincial level.
‘‘I’m obviously getting to the end of my career and it’s been an amazing career. I’ve achieved so much and I’m looking forward to a new challenge. When you’ve played for as long as I have, you often need new experiences to re-energise yourself.