Dan Carter: Kiwi World Cup talisman or jinx?

Dan Carter was to have captained the All Blacks for the first time on Sunday. An honour bestowed on him as a Kiwi legend akin to that of teammate Richie McCaw who had to withdraw because of his injury. “Twang” went Carter’s groin muscle during kicking practice yesterday and now he is out and gone from the tournament in less than 60 seconds.

You can see his famous last kick here.

I know one lady is more than disappointed Danny Boy will not be performing the Haka and lining up in front of the white sticks!

Firstly, it has been absolutely devastating for this world-class player as a sportsman, legendary flyhalf and potentially an All Blacks World Cup winner to have all this taken away in 24 hours, including accreditation as a player in the 2011 Rugby World Cup — potentially the pinnacle point of his career.

Carter, the safety blanket for New Zealand rugby fans and talisman to the All Blacks team, is now gone and the All Blacks unit is in disarray talking up Colin Slade, a newbie to the position.

National insecurity throughout New Zealand has set in about the All Blacks’ chances of winning the Rugby World Cup, running the gauntlet of Argentina in the quarter-finals, South Africa in the semi-finals and the swansong against Wales in the finals on October 23.

The All Blacks and the nation have been shaken to the core by the departure of their talisman and now face enormous vulnerabilities. If you are Santiago Phelan, Peter de Villiers and Warren Gatland, the coaches of Argentina, South Africa and Wales, Slade becomes the boy with the red dot on his chest and we already know he has cracked, spilt passes and slipped under pressure.

The gentleman’s game has now moved into overdrive for the next three weeks and the remaining eight team coaches and tacticians are poring over tapes to unleash their loose forward assassins on the opposition’s 9s and 10s.

Now we get to see what player firepower the teams have in their arsenal and I reckon we will see a Wales vs South Africa final on October 23.

We have to wait and see!