Scottish Daily Mail

This really will be my last shot

All Black legend Dan Carter has suffered his share of World Cup heartbreak and admits ...

- by CHRIS FOY

THOSE arriving at Twickenham­m by train in the coming weekss will discover the billboards are e dominated by images of a Kiwii icon who has had his share of f World Cup heartache. The signs welcome visitors to the ‘ Home of England rugby’ but Dan Carter is the player who greets them. And the man widely regarded as the greatest fly-half in the sport’s history has a score to settle in his fourth and final appearance at rugby’s global showpiece.

There is a glaring gap in the 33-year- old’s stellar CV. Carter now has a century of Test caps, and has long since surpassed Jonny Wilkinson as the leading all-time internatio­nal points-scorer. His tally stands at 1,516 in 106 appearance­s — 93 of them ending in victory. In New Zealand, where rugby is king, he has long worn the crown as the nation’s darling.

But World Cups have brought him nothing but trouble and this one could have been the worst of all. Once Steve Hansen had named his squad to defend the title they won in 2011, it emerged that Carter was in grave danger of being omitted after an indifferen­t season, only to secure his i nclusion with a vintage display against Australia in Auckland.

That reprieve meant so much because he has unfinished business. Speaking exclusivel­y to Sportsmail, Carter said: ‘You’d think that, this being my fourth World Cup, I might have had some personal success by now! Even with the team winning the last tournament, I wasn’t out there because I was injured. I haven’t had much personal joy at World Cups and signing a contract with the NZRU for four more years after 2011 was to give me the best chance to have a crack at one more World Cup.’

His groin injury during the pool stage of New Zealand’s home event prompted a mass outpouring of Kiwi grief. For Carter, it was a shattering episode.

‘ It was devastatin­g,’ he said. ‘ I had been vice- captain for a couple of years but I’d never captained the All Blacks. Richie (McCaw) pulled out of the game against Canada quite late and I was named captain for the first time.

‘I’d just finished doing my press conference and we shot off to the captain’s run training session — the last session of the week. It was just a gentle run- out. I have kicked thousands of balls in my career and at the end of training I was only having four kicks. When I took the very last o ne, t he i mpact produced this pain in my groin.

‘I knew it was serious. I just dropped to the ground and I was in agonising pain. A lot of people thought I was just winding (former All Blacks coach) Graham Henry up but I knew it was serious straight away. You always have hope that it’s not too bad but, when I had scans later on that night, I realised I had ruptured my adductor, so my tournament was over.’

Coping with the setback was a huge challenge. ‘It was pretty hard to take in,’ he said. ‘When I was around the team I put on a really brave face and tried to be supportive. With Colin Slade and a few guys getting injured after me, I had to help out the first-fives (fly-halves). But I would go back to my hotel room and be thinking all sorts.

‘I was constantly asking: “Why?” I was thinking: “Why me? Why now? Why such a serious injury?” I often think all things happen for a reason but I couldn’t think of one for that.’

In reference to the reaction in New Zealand, he added: ‘I kind of removed myself from all that. But the next week I did a press conference and some of t he questions I was getting … I almost felt like I needed the country to move on and start supporting the other guys.

‘I was thinking: “One player is not going to make a difference in a team sport l i ke this, we have structures in place so if anyone falls over you just deal with it — and the team were.” So I had moved on pretty quickly and I just needed the rest of the country to move on as well.’

One of the worst aspects of the injury was that it deprived Carter of the chance to enact the scenario he had spent his life preparing for.

Stephen Donald — the fourth-choice No 10 — kicked the decisive penalty in the final against France and the man who should have had that shot wished it had been him.

‘I would have loved it,’ said Carter. ‘The amount of times as a young boy in the back yard I pretended to be taking the kick to win a World Cup — it would have been great. But what happened, happened and you just have to deal with what adversity life throws at you.’

There had been adversity in his previous World Cups, too. In 2007, Carter was injured in the quarterfin­al against France in Cardiff and had to watch as the All Blacks imploded in his absence.

Four years earlier, it had been less raw f or the rookie when New Zealand were beaten by Australia in a semi-final in Sydney.

Now, he has his last shot. ‘There is huge motivation for me,’ he said. ‘I just want to try to do something that no team has done before by winning back-to-back World Cups.

‘I want to enjoy it as well.’

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GETTY IMAGES ?? Agony: a groin injury curtails Carter’s last World Cup
Ecstasy: kicking the points to win the Cup is Carter’s dream
GETTY IMAGES GETTY IMAGES Agony: a groin injury curtails Carter’s last World Cup Ecstasy: kicking the points to win the Cup is Carter’s dream
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