Carter bids Boks no fond farewell
Dan Carter, whose importance to the All Blacks has risen several notches as the rebuilding phase momentum has slowed, will not be sad to see the back of South Africa after he once again pointed to a few off-the-ball incidents during Saturday's 30-28 defeat.
Dan Carter, whose importance to the All Blacks has risen several notches as the rebuilding phase momentum has slowed, will not be sad to see the back of South Africa after he once again pointed to a few off-the-ball incidents during Saturday's 30-28 defeat.
Much of the post-match reaction to the ABs' 19-8 victory in Wellington had centred around off-the-ball tackles, with Carter singled out for plenty of attention on the New Zealand side.
The Boks have now left with a suitably in-your-face victory as a response, but Carter still thinks the roughhouse tactics were there in defeat as they were in victory.
“There were still a few situations there and the touch judge and ref picked up a few – a bit of off-the-ball play,” Carter said to the NZPA.
“It is frustrating when you're looking to support after a pass and you're getting knocked over.
“That happened a few times again but that's just the way they play.
“I think they concentrate on intimidating you physically, that's the way they have always played, more so than other teams.”
Carter also missed two late drops at goal which could have won the match, having earlier landed one – only his second in Test rugby.
New Zealand's failure to try that tactic in their ill-fated World Cup quarter-final against France last year was widely acknowledged to be a shortcoming, but it appears that even when tried, it is not as reliable a tactic for them as it is for others.
“I have four kicking sessions a week and in those I am practicing my dropped goal plays – no more, no less than previous years,” Carter said.
“It was one of those games that could have gone either way at the end. I thought we had set ourselves up pretty well but a bit of individual brilliance there right at the end they managed to score a try when it counted.
“We were trying to set up a play where we hit around the back of a line-out and keep trying to progress closer to the posts.”
The first five-eighths, who kicked 23 points in the Test, praised South Africa's defensive play, especially the side's ability at closing down space.
“They are an extremely strong defensive side and they really do cut down your space and time and that is always tough to crack, they read plays well so they can adjust, they can shut down space when it is needed but hold and slide at other times. So that is another adjustment for us to look at for next time,” he said.
“We'll learn a lot and bounce back from this.”
“I thought the way we played in the second half was real credit to a lot of new young faces out there so that was pleasing but when we did get a slight advantage or ahead of them they would bounce back and they got one back on us so that is something we will have to learn and be better.”