IF New Zealand rugby is to produce a 2011 World Cup saviour, bet your boots it will be Daniel Carter.
That Carter’s late sideline penalty pinched a nail-biting 19-18 Bledisloe Cup victory will have come as no surprise to the thousands of fans who have followed his Midas touch career.
However, that he should do it after just four games following his Achilles tendon operation, serves as further evidence of his undisputed class.
Carter has it all – the brain, the temperament, balance, dummy, sidestep, swerve, fend, kick and tackle to make him a champion rugby player. Add to that the courage to perform to his best under fire.
How ironic, therefore, that a player whose talents were honed by former Crusaders coach Robbie Deans, should be the main cause for Graham Henry’s All Blacks 4-1 success story since Deans became Australian coach.
Certainly without Carter, the fumbling All Blacks resembled rabble when twice demolished and demoralised by the rampant Springboks in South Africa. But to Henry’s credit he demanded and got a much better response at Sydney, when the lineout improved and the scrum dominated to give Carter the chance to put the Wallabies under pressure in an improved second half.
Not that it was easy with the Aussies employing a in-your-face defence in executing kamikaze tackles that eventually sidelined Luke McAlister with a fractured cheekbone.
With a hamstrung Conrad Smith another casualty, it was ironic his replacement, Ma’a Nonu, should score the game’s only try with a smart loop around Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Devoid of a true second-five’s kicking game, Nonu’s true berth remains centre where his step and power prospers in the extra space the position affords.
The surprise is that given Smith’s silky passing skills and nifty grubber kick, he hasn’t been tried at second-five. It’s also a position that might better suit Stephen Donald than first-five, where his habit of throwing the ball up before kicking instead of dropping it onto his boot, makes him susceptible to a charge down.
Brave and fast with the ability to execute a smart dummy, Donald doesn’t have the ability to create space under pressure that great first-fives such as Carter does and Andrew Mehrtens and Welsh wizard Barry Johns did.
Interestingly, at provincial level, others like Bay of Plenty’s Mike Delaney and Manawatu’s Aaron Cruden are proving they most certainly do.
Delaney mixed razzle dazzle runs with towering punts, six penalties and two conversions in Bay’s 32-16 trouncing of Waikato in the Air New Zealand Cup, and Cruden’s heady performance helped guide Manawatu to a deserved 19-12 win over Otago.
Interesting, too, it was replacement inside backs Taniela Moa and Daniel Bowden who sparked Auckland’s revival with tries in their brave but unsuccessful 15-16 Ranfurly Shield challenge against Wellington.
With Bay of Plenty the only unbeaten team after four rounds, two points clear of Canterbury, who would have picked Southland and Manwatu to be sharing third spot with Wellington on 13 points?
Meanwhile, with All Blacks available and the national selectors avid spectators, Canterbury have the forward clout and backline smarts to lift the Ranfurly Shield from Wellington on Saturday. Auckland battles Bay of Plenty for the new memorial John Drake Boot in their Air New Zealand Cup match at Eden Park on Sunday, 2.35pm.
