KEY POINTS:
If Daniel Carter brings his Tri-Nations form to the All Blacks final test in an exhausting season, backs coach Wayne Smith will have no departing quarrels with his premier five-eighths.
Smith thought his backline director's form this season even outranked his work during the clean-sweep series against the Lions in 2005. One last hurrah at Twickenham would be just fine.
The No 10 had enjoyed a brief break from rugby before this tour, he was quite fresh and should just enjoy his spell with Perpignan before he returned to New Zealand in the middle of next year. Carter had not shown any signs of saving himself for his new club; if anything he had given more to the All Blacks this season than ever.
"We had our backs to the wall," Smith said of some early-season team tremors. "We had some new players, we were playing a new game, we got outcoached and outplayed in Sydney. There was a lot of pressure on him and I thought in Auckland, Cape Town and Brisbane he was as good as I have seen him. He was tough on defence, he ran the game well, he scored tries, kicked goals, he stood up big time at a time when we really needed him.
"He wasn't alone. Other leaders like Mils Muliaina, I thought, had his best Tri-Nations."
A delve into the record books also reveals that the turnaround which started in Auckland, after losses in Dunedin and Sydney, also coincided with the return of regular skipper and openside flanker Richie McCaw.
Smith, who has the right credentials to judge a five-eighths after his 17 tests for the All Blacks, thought Carter had delivered great quality this year.
"For consistency, his contribution during the Tri-Nations I think was probably his best. I think he played better in the Tri-Nations this year than ever before.
"Even when we look back at the Lions series, the sensational Lions series, he has often been a wee bit disappointed with his performance in the Tri-Nations. No one else has, but he has by his own high standards - but I thought this year he has been sensational.
"He has improved, I think, and that is a big thing to say for someone as good as he is."
Carter remained a down-to-earth, modest guy, someone who never gave less than 100 per cent to every facet of his All Black life. He would be a great acquisition for Perpignan and he would also return as a more rounded player.
Meanwhile, the All Blacks would get their mandatory four weeks' break then four weeks' conditioning before resuming their Super 14 work.
The All Black staff had met with coaches to talk through the best methods of reintroducing the international players to the competition. Ideally, Smith suggested, players would benefit from a break of three months - four weeks' break then an eight-week lead-in.
