KEY POINTS:
Not a bad night's work for someone who rated himself as "hesitant" before his return to the All Blacks and "not that pleased" in his post-match review against Canada.
By anyone else's standards, a record All Blacks' haul of 29 points against Canada, to eclipse Andrew Mehrtens' previous high, was a superb effort but Daniel Carter has regularly played rugby in a different stratosphere.
However this season he played only six Super 14 games because of physical conditioning and then damaged his ankle in the first test against France. That detached sequence has eateninto his confidence.
"The most difficult thing is the physical side of it," Carter said after feeling the full force of a rugged Canadian side in Hamilton.
"You can do all the preparation and go over all the moves and things. But it is the physicality. You know you are a bit apprehensive on defence and things like that but, after a couple of games, you get that match fitness and your shoulders are ready and you can put in a few hits so I think I have got a bit of a way to go there."
Carter had not been able to do much kicking practice since damaging ankle ligaments against France but pronounced himself fully fit for this week's Tri-Nations meeting with the Springboks at Durban. His workout in Hamilton brought him three tries, seven goals from 10 attempts, plenty of defence and memories of a pass intercepted by Canadian fullback Mike Pyke for the visitors' solitary try.
"There will no let-up in Durban on the physical side of things but we love that confrontation so we won't be holding back, we will let loose as well," Carter said.
"It is important to play well in each game, we are not holding back for the World Cup in any way, we are not looking ahead too far either."
The 13th-ranked Canadians had "shocked" the All Blacks in the first half; they were a tougher proposition than France, who are second on the International Rugby Board ratings. However the domestic series had ended, it was time for the Tri-Nations where the matches would all be extremely physical.
Carter was not about to burden himself with any images of the Boks before the long flight yesterday to South Africa; he needed a few hours' sleep at an Auckland hotel before the side's departure and would leave the analysis and observations to the coaching staff.
Canada had disrupted the All Blacks, shown them the physical side of their repertoire and handled their defensive duties strongly. The three domestic tests against inferior rivals were invaluable preparation at the start of the international programme. The margins favoured the All Blacks (a combined 167 points against 34) but they knew they had to raise their game several levels to compete with the intensity of the Tri-Nations series.
Carter scored two of his tries out on the right flank but said that was only a result of the All Blacks' desire to keep the width in their game rather than him swapping roles. It was just the way the phases happened.
"It has been a frustrating season for me though, not stringing more than two or three games together in a row, which is not ideal. I think I have a long way to go yet. I was not all that pleased with my performance, looking at my game I need to improve."
