Dan Carter: All-Blacks just get better

He’s not an All Black anymore but Dan Carter’s still got it.

In Dublin yesterday for some promotional work, the Racing 92 out-half trailed a posse of PR handlers, company employees and media behind him as he was guided in and around the SoftCo commercial premises on Dublin’s southside.

One kid was so overwrought at meeting his hero that he had to be ushered quietly to one side, tears welling up in his sockets. Now 34, it seems that neither age nor international retirement nor the recent corticosteroid farrago have diminished the man’s appeal.

This after his club claimed that the recent steroid saga had “blurred public perceptions” of Carter, Joe Rokocoko, and Juan Imhoff, the three players found to have taken corticosteroids prior to the Top 14 final against Toulon in Barcelona last June.

All three were cleared of any wrongdoing after an investigation by the French rugby federation’s medical commission, with Racing stating that their employees had received totally justified treatment for injuries that was completely within the rules.

The players themselves have since decided to take their case to the public prosecutor due to the manner in which confidential medical records were made public in the media but Carter was predictably eager to move on to other, more pleasant issues.

“I wouldn’t say (I’m) angry,” he said. “I’d say disappointed. The way it came out and the way it was played through the media really ... I always knew that I had done nothing wrong and to have your name alongside things like ‘positive’ and ‘steroids’, which was completely inaccurate, was disappointing.”

Disappointing isn’t a word that couldn’t be levied at the All Blacks.

Carter was one of a clutch of veterans to retire after they retained the World Cup in England last year. Between them, they boasted over 700 caps but the brain drain didn’t have the effect on the Kiwis that opponents had expected and craved.

Quite the opposite.

“It’s been great to sit back and watch them and just see the progress from after the World Cup, whereas a lot of teams put so much emphasis on the World Cup and didn’t really know what they were going to do afterwards and you’ve seen teams have taken a big dip since.

“The All Blacks have just continued to get better and that’s off the back of some strong foundations which have been put in place for many years. Same coaching staff and management and they’ve kept things rolling.

“It’s not a surprise to me as when I was involved in the All Blacks we were bringing a lot of these younger guys up into leadership roles and now a few of the older players have moved on and it’s been a natural evolution of those younger players to lead the team.”

New Zealand’s strength in depth is obvious with a glance at Carter’s old domain where Beauden Barrett and Aaron Cruden are both doing their damndest to claim the coveted number 10. Ireland’s situation at out-half is somewhat different.

Joey Carbery’s emergence at Leinster has been an encouraging story but the Athy man has featured just nine times for the province. It will be some ask if he is needed to replace Jonathan Sexton who approaches tomorrow’s encounter in Chicago short of match fitness.

“He’s definitely one of Ireland’s key men,” Carter said of Sexton. “He obviously hasn’t been able to play a full season. He’s had a few injuries so whether he’s playing with full confidence or not … but he’s a world-class player. He’s a player that if Ireland are to be successful, he needs a big game.”

Sexton shows his disappointment after Ireland lost to the All Blacks in 2012

A career in diplomacy would be no bother to Carter such is his ability to take the edge off the most awkward of questions but no amount of patter could lead him away from the conclusion that he expects the All Blacks to win again at Soldier Field.

Warren Gatland has suggested that the All Blacks could be distracted by off-the-field commercial obligations in the States. Carter, who played in Chicago in 2014, didn’t back that up and he knocked back the theory that fatigue could make the Kiwis more vulnerable in Ireland in two weeks’ time.

“On previous tours to Europe it was real exciting for the team because we don’t get to play the northern hemisphere teams that often. It’s three years since we’ve played Ireland. One of the challenging things is that you play a slightly different game. We’re not used to the way the northern hemisphere teams play.

“They are extremely physical and extremely fast line speed … Sometimes the European teams can catch us on the hop. With the coaching staff we have got we will be doing a lot of analysis on a couple of the younger players in the Ireland team and we would have been following them pretty closely at club level.

“But it is a bit of a change and it makes it a bit more interesting to adjust.”