Dan Carter and John Hayes have a lot in common...
There were 60 press photographers there to record it. Every time he went near the ball, all you could hear was the click of cameras. I’ve had big press gatherings for Ireland and the Lions, but this wasn’t for a team or a match, this was for one man. Racing has been a circus this week. Fellas everywhere, around every corner, pretending they have a job to be doing just to get a glimpse of Dan.
I think Dan is only starting to realise what he achieved over the last couple of months. It’s been fascinating chatting and hearing how he started believing what the press were saying about him, that he was finished, that his body wasn’t up to it. It definitely affected him in the early stage of the World Cup, he said. But then he started putting his game back together. He didn’t say it, but I said to him, what he did in the final... it’s one thing winning the World Cup, but another entirely to have such an influence over how they won it. He couldn’t contain his smile.
