Injured Dan Carter supports Colin Slade for the fly half role in All Blacks line up – Rugby News
All Blacks’ star international fly half, Dan Carter, has backed Colin Slade for the fly half role and expressed his confidence in the player’s ability to lead the All Blacks to a title win. Carter made these comments on Monday, October 3, during a press
conference. Earlier last week, Carter was ruled out of the All Blacks 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) campaign after sustaining a groin injury.
Speaking on the occasion, Carter advised Slade to, “make the most of this opportunity and enjoy it.” Commenting on Slade, Carter said, “He's doing that the best he can. I am sure he will support the team the best he can. What the team needs to do and what
Colin Slade needs to do. Colin first of all needs to understand that he's Colin Slade - he doesn't have to be Dan Carter.”
Carter added that the rest of the senior and regular first-choice members of the squad need to lift up their game to overcome any shortcomings the squad have. He added that the team has to stop thinking about his injury and concentrate on their upcoming
must-win game against Argentina.
Carter’s absence has heavily affected the All Blacks preparations for the 2011 RWC. However, he has expressed his hope that the team can manage to win and perform in the knockout stages of the tournament in his absence. He said, “The team is pretty focused.
If we lose any player we've got enough depth and we've got such a good squad that players come in and fill their roles.”
All Blacks finished on top of Pool A, with winning all there pool matches. They will take on the challenge of the Los Pumas in the quarter-finals in their bid to claim the William Webb Ellis trophy for the first time since 1987.
Carter acknowledged that the All Blacks had developed a contingency plan before the start of the 2011 RWC to accommodate injury issues which are part and parcel of any long tournament.
All Blacks assistant coach, Steve Hansen, has expressed his confidence that the injury will positively affect Carter’s career and personality.
Tags: