Dan Carter hoping to end with winning smile

It’s four days after Dan Carter starred in a demolition job over the Wallabies, and he is sitting in the Eden Rugby clubrooms, a couple of spiral kicks away from Eden Park, with a smile as wide as the 41-13 scoreline by which his team retained the Bledisloe Cup.

His happiness is understandable even despite the fact he is about to have the first of many media interviews in his role as an ambassador for a credit card company. The All Blacks, after a 27-19 humbling at the hands of the Wallabies in Sydney the week before, have just gained a measure of revenge and in the process protected a winning streak against their neighbours at their fortress which stretches back to 1986.

Carter played well — running the ball and directing operations with intent and skill and providing the final passes for Dane Coles and Ma’a Nonu to score tries on a cool evening in Auckland. But it’s not until after the All Blacks World Cup squad is announced in Wellington’s parliament building, the Beehive, nearly three weeks later, that it becomes apparent how important his performance was.