Is Daniel Carter the best rugby player ever to play the game?

Question

Is Daniel Carter the best rugby player ever to play the game?

Answer 1

I would not call Carter the best Rugby player ever to have played the game .. Not by a long shot .. He may well have the potential to become one of the greats , but history will determine that maybe in a few years ..Right now he is one heck of a player but he does have a bit of catching up to do to get in the real great catagory ..

How do you compare greats anyway ..  and what qualifies a great player ?  Positions are different and each requires specific skills , some are more prominant and some have a more profound effect on how the game pans out .. Eras also really cannot be compared .. The rules change and players of today might well be difficult to compare with a player of yesteryear ..

Anyway .. If you want a team of real world great rugby players , , those who have all been determined as the best there have been then i offer this side ..

Serge Blanco

Dave Duckham

Jeff Wilson

Philleppe Sella

Mike Gibson

Barry John

Gareth Edwards

Mervyn Davies

J P R Rives

Micheal Jones

Colin Meads

Frik du Preez

Jason :Leonard

Sean Fitzpatrick

Olo Brown

Everyone of those players would be rated as right on the world rugby top shelf in their respective positions by most of the good rugby judges world wide .. Everyone of them genuine greats of a Great game .

Answer 2

No, he's not up to the legacy of John Eales, Neil Jenkins, Colin Meads, Keith Wood, Serge Blanco, Hugo Porta, Francios Pienaar, Martin Johnson or Gavin Hastings.

Some of the world's best players from their respective countries.

Carter's good, but there are still some aspects of his game that need improvement such as defence

Answer 3

No.. dont get me wrong hes def a talented player but hes not a legend as of yet. But then again hes still pretty young & has the potential 2 b great later on. If its legendary ur after u cant go past such players as christian cullen, jonah lomu, colin meads, sean fitzpatrick, tana umanga etc etc

Answer 4

No. There were great players before him and there will be great players after him.

The best he can hope to be is best in his era and one of the best ever to play the game.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Answer 5

Nope - far from it!!!

Tipsytom, I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but geez that's a pretty "out there" top team you've picked!!! Not sure many would agree with your selections.........

Greenwood as the best centre ever??

Jack better than John Eales at lock??

Have a look at my picks: (yes I know I'm biassed lol)

15 - Roger Gould (Aus)

14 - Lote Tuqiri (Aus)

13 - Stirling Mortlock (Aus)

12 - Matt Giteau (Aus)

11 - Brian Habana (SA)

10 - Hugo Porta (Arg)

9 - David Kirk (NZ)

8 - Willie Ofahengaui (Aus)

7 - Richie McCaw (NZ)

6 - Schalk Berger (SA)

5 - Colin Meads (NZ)

4 - John Eales (Aus)

3 - Carl Hayman (NZ)

2 - Sean Fitzpatrick (NZ)

1 - Enrique Rodriguez (Arg / Aus)

Hmm...all southern hemisphere players........in fact all except 3 are Aussie or Kiwi (I'm claiming Rodriguez as an Aussie lol)

Answer 6

hes not even considered the best all black yet.. look up a guy called colin meads he is said to be the greatest player to wear the black jersey he played in 133 tests that spanned from 1957-1972.. neil jenkins greatest rugby player eva sure he might have the most points but wouldnt consider him the best.. i rate grant fox, Michael Lynagh ahead of Neil..

edit... as every1s choosing teams

1. Tony Woodcock (NZ)

2. Keith Wood (Ireland) or Sean Fitzpatrick(NZ)

3. Olo Brown (NZ).. the best tighthead prop ever!!

4. Colin Meads (NZ).. Argubaly the greatest all black ever

5. John Eales (Aust) gota give respect where its due

6. Olivier Magne

7. Michael Jones (NZ) reveloutionised the way opensides play the game but didnt see the best of him because of injuries

8. Zinzan Brooke (NZ) or Wayne Shelford (NZ) he played a game of rugby with a ripped testicles sack..

9. George Gregan (Aust) hate him so much bt what hes done over the years gets him here

10. Grant Fox(NZ) or

11. Jonah Lomu (NZ)

12. Bruce Robertson or Joe Stanley (NZ)

13. Phillipe Sella (France)

14. John Kirwan (NZ)

15. Christian Cullen (NZ)

Answer 7

~ The first-five position is paramount in the direction, play & success of any team and I certainly think that Daniel Carter is an absolutely amazing player who will continue to steer the All Blacks towards success.  However, my pick has got to be Richie McCaw and I am 110% certain that if he does not incur any injury during the RWC pool play ~ the whole of New Zealand and the rest of the globe will realise what a true rugby legend he is! ~

Answer 8

YES YES YES!!!  That man is only going to get better too.  Did you see what he did to the 2005 Lions?

What I see in a quality footballer is diversity in their skills.  He has an excellent skill range. ie. kick, pass, run, tackle and the ability to read the game.  To say he needs to be a better tackler ?  Huh!  What no. 10 tackles better than him?  Ronan O'Gara?  I think not.

Carter could play anywhere in the backline and still have an impact in the game.  Although an outstanding 1st 5/8, if he was onto it I reckon he could have played blind side flanker.  Zinzan, Fitzy or Iceman might have had a wee bit of trouble playing 10 or 12.  Martin Johnson or John Eales never had the ability of Dan Carter, not even close.

He is going to be the difference at this years RWC.  There ain't no no. 10 thats even going to be close on ability to him.

Answer 9

He is better than good, but not the best. There have been too many players around the world that have had a bigger influence on the game. Ask rugby fundies from different countries, and everyone will give you a different answer - usually someone from their own country.

Answer 10

there are many players ahead of Daniel Carter.

For a start their are better all black players than him such as jona lomu and zinzan brooke.

The best players from each country i would say is:

England - Martin Johnson

Wales - Gareth Edwards

Ireland - Keith Wood or Brian o'Driscoll

Australia - David Campese

New Zealand - Jonah Lomu or Zinzan Brooke

South Africa - Naas Botha

France - Philippe Sella

Scotland - Greggor Townsend

My Team Would Be:

Fullback - Gareth Thomas (Wales)

Wings - Lote Tuqiri (Australia) Jona Lomah (New Zealand)

Centers - Will Greenwood (England) Tim Horan (Australia)

Fly Half - Jonny Wilkinson (England)

Scrum Half - Peri Weepu (New Zealand)

Props - Jason Leonard (England) Os du Randt (South Africa)

Hooker - Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)

Locks - Chris Jack (New Zealand) Martin Johnson (England)

Flankers - Neil Back (England) Francois Pienaar (South Africa)

Number 8 - Zinzan Brooke (New Zealand)

Answer 11

Far from it my friend.Ever heared of Neil Jenkins?

Or,even better the Welsh 70's team.That team contained many of the greatest players to step on the rugby field.Including,Gareth Edwards,JPR Williams,Barry John,Mervyn Davies and many more.Yes,Daniel Carter is a good player,very good,but he is not old enough yet to be considered a true legend.

Answer 12

Not so far. There are many good players to have played. Carter is still at the start/middle of his career so it is to early to say what he will be able to do.

It also depends on what you term as a good player. Jonah Lomu for example is great on attack, but when it comes to defence and the ball being kicked behind him, he was not strong at times.

Richie McCaw is great at the breakdown, but he sometimes gives away too many penalties.

The list goes on and there are numerous other players that will fall into these categories all over the world

Answer 13

He isn't far enough into his career to make that kind of  call  he is a great player , but i think a fit Johnny Wilkinson is as good as for the best player of all time Colin meads  the former all black was voted player of the century if you get a chance to watch some footage of him play you should he was great  the likes of neil jenkins and lomu don't come close. However there have been many greats john eales martin johnson serge blanco the list can go on the trouble is the game is constantly changing so in each era there will be great player and too compare them to those before them isnt fair.

Answer 14

He could well be heading that way..he's the most complete first 5 I've ever seen on defence, offence and his tactical and goal kicking are brilliant...you dont have to be old to be a legend - Lomu was a legend already at 19! I was surprised to see Lote Tuquri in anyones all time top 15 - he's average and hasnt scored tries regularily or recently - not to mention his poor disclipline. Jeff Wilson, Tana Umanga, David Campese and even Eiaun Evens were better than him....also David Kirk as best halfback? - you must be joking...he was medicre by All Black standards. Simply being captain of an amatuer world cup winning side doesnt make you the best halfback..heres my picks and combinations work well I think.

1-Os du Randt

2-Sean Fitzpatrick

3- Jason Leanord

4-John Eales

5-Colin Meads

6-Olivier Magne

7-Michael Jones

8- Zinzan Brooke

9-Joost Van Der Westhuizen

10-Daniel Carter

11-Jonah Lomu

12-Tom Horan

13-Jason Little

14-Jeff Wilson

15-Christian Cullen

Reserves: Martin Johnson, Olo Brown, Keith Wood, Richie McCaw, Jonny Wilkenson, Tana Umanga and David Campese

p.s Kurupt312 seems to have ripped off my team

Answer 15

No I would have to say Jonah Lomu is.

Answer 16

No way, Schalk Burger is much better. I also think that someone like Naas Botha was much better.

There were great players before him and I believe we will see even better players in the future.

Answer 17

no i h8 him the only reason i wud like him is if he played in his jockeys he has a nice ***