Low-key Carter denouement adds to legend

Three years after his fairytale ending with the All Blacks, first-five could be on brink of another, writes Gregor Paul

There was an incredible drop goal, a long range penalty, a right-footed conversion and then global adulation for Daniel Carter as he signed off as an All Black in 2015 with a performance so controlled and commanding that World Rugby were always going to name him their Player of the Year.

It was the perfect ending to Carter’s All Blacks career: a supreme performance in a World Cup final, coming four years after he was denied the fulfilment of that ambition by the cruellest injury. New Zealand’s fairytale player had his fairytale ending.

But it was an ending, not the end, because while Carter had written the last chapter of his test career, his story has continued, even if many in New Zealand are dismissive or oblivious about what he’s been up to these past three years.

Out of sight, out of mind has probably been true about Carter in his homeland. The All Blacks and Crusaders got the best of him and once he headed for Paris, most Kiwis stopped being interested; took the view that he was there to deservedly collect a huge payout based on who he was rather than what he was bringing.

There have also been a few mischievous headlines and selective stories in the past 18 months — fake news, as Donald Trump would say — that portrayed Carter as a broken force spiralling towards mediocrity on the back of a lifestyle more focused on what the French call the ‘third half’.

Carter unquestionably has enjoyed himself in France, but that is neither a crime, nor any evidential base to suggest that his professionalism has drifted or his desire has been dimmed.

At 36, he’s still got it. He’s not the player he was at 25 but he’s still able to have the same influence. And that’s what makes him the greatest No 10 of all time: he’s like rugby’s version of Madonna in that he has constantly reinvented himself to stay relevant.

When he was 23, Carter ripped apart the British Lions with his pace and agility. At 33, he won the All Blacks a World Cup with his unerring boot and snap judgements. And for the last few years at Racing 92, he’s been the tactical director the club has craved.

He doesn’t bomb around these days, as the old legs don’t whisk him across the turf the way they used to, but Carter still makes things happen.

He still makes enormously telling contributions. A year after he joined Racing 92, they won their first Top 14 title for 26 years.

Carter, say those who followed the campaign, was the man who made the difference.

He didn’t win the title for Racing 92 on his own — there were 14 other blokes who watched him do it. And now he’s 10 days away from being involved in a European Cup final for the second time — a final Carter has more than done his bit in helping Racing 92 reach.

He has clearly not just been collecting the money in Paris and it is, frankly, quite extraordinary that almost 15 years since Carter played a Super Rugby final, he’ll be in a European Cup final.

And it’s his resilience, tenacity and longevity that complete his claim to be considered the best first-five in history.

He’d probably already won most arguments on the basis that no other first-five has had the same breadth to their portfolio.

Jonny Wilkinson was a supreme kicker and defender, not so much of a runner, though. Stephen Larkham was a runner and slip passer with no equal, but he wasn’t a kicker.

Barry John ran like he was a ghost, but defended like one, too. All great players, but compared with Carter, they come up short.

Carter could do everything, which is why he’s been able to stretch his career for as long as he has and why every aspiring firstfive of the past decade has tried to model their game on his.

Ask Johnny Sexton, Owen Farrell and Beauden Barrett who inspired them and there is no hesitation and no long list. It was Carter.

Carter’s career didn’t end at Twickenham in 2015, but it will shortly when he finishes up with Racing and then heads to Japan for a contract at Kobe.

This will be more about him working as an ambassador for rugby than it will be making a serious contribution on the field.

His career deserves to end with a European Cup medal, but it doesn’t need to for Carter to sign off as a genuine legend and the undisputed king of playmakers.