12 days of rugby: The Dan Carter Show against the Lions
With the festive season in full swing, it’s time to continue our 12 days of rugby. Next up, it’s Dan Carter’s superb performance during the second Test of the All Blacks’ series against the British & Irish Lions in 2005.
Lead-up to that special rugby moment
After England were crowned champions at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia, their head coach from that campaign, Sir Clive Woodward, was appointed to take charge of the British and Irish Lions side for their tour of New Zealand.
Woodward had resigned from his England position in September 2004 to focus fully on the Lions job and plot the All Blacks’ downfall. Like most tours from the famous touring team, there was plenty of hype and although the Lions won five out of their six matches in New Zealand – ahead of the first Test in Christchurch – they were in for a rude awakening as they suffered a 21-3 loss in the series opener.
To make matters worse, Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll’s tour was ended due to a dislocated shoulder suffered after being upended at a ruck by New Zealand skipper Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu. There was no censure against the offending All Blacks which led to plenty of unhappiness in the Lions camp and the tourists were determined to turn the tables in the second Test in Wellington.
The Test was played at a high intensity with the Lions having the better of the early exchanges and they took an early lead when Gareth Thomas crossed for a converted try after just two minutes. Carter led the home side’s revival with two penalties and set the game alight with a 50-metre run before offloading to Umaga, who crossed for New Zealand’s first try.
That was a sign of things to come as the All Blacks pivot continued to dominate proceedings with accurate goal-kicking, excellent attacking play and a solid defensive display. In the 43rd minute, he stabbed a grubber kick past Josh Lewsey and regathered to score out wide, before adding the extras, and apart from keeping the scoreboard ticking with further penalties, he crossed for his second try in the 70th minute after beating Lewsey again.
In the end, the All Blacks sealed an emphatic 48-18 triumph with Carter leading the way by contributing 33 points courtesy of a brace of tries, four conversions and five penalties.
Why it will live long in the memory
At the age of 23 and with 19 Test caps to his name, the common consensus ahead of this Test was that Carter – while showing great potential – was not yet at the peak of his powers but this encounter would be viewed as a watershed moment in his career.
That stems from the way he dominated proceedings, with his game management and attacking play excellent throughout. His display in this match was arguably the best all-round individual performance in the modern era. Also, his 33-point haul broke the all-time record for points by an All Black against the Lions and is also the most points he scored in his 112-Test career.
After the Lions’ defeat in the first Test, Woodward made 11 changes to his starting line-up with the most significant one being Jonny Wilkinson’s switch from inside centre to fly-half as it meant he would face off with Carter in a direct duel.
Their showdown was eagerly anticipated as it pitted the game’s two best number 10s against each other, with Wilkinson widely regarded as the game’s leading number 10 at the time and Carter the pretender to the throne. Despite the hype about the duel between these great playmakers, it was a one-sided affair with the All Black far superior in all facets of play and if this was a boxing match he would have won it by a technical knockout.
Wilkinson had set the standard for fly-half play during the early 2000s but Carter raised the bar by several notches with this scintillating display which would have rugby enthusiasts talking about it for years to come.