Rugby: Carter wary of Fiji

Dan Carter looks for support during a New Zealand All Blacks training session. Photo / Getty Images

All Blacks first five-eighth Dan Carter may be mentally jaded after a taxing Super 15 season, but he's ready to put his body on the line against Fiji in the Canterbury earthquake fundraising Dunedin on Friday night.

The tough-tackling Fijians have a reputation for ill-discipline - they had three players sent off and two more yellow-carded in their 24-13 defeat by Japan in the Pacific Nations Cup last week - but Carter is keen to be involved in the final test match at Carisbrook.

"I'd be pretty keen to get some game time," said the 29-year-old, who admitted he was emotionally drained after losing the Super 15 final to the Queensland Reds in Brisbane.

"I was really up for those playoff games, but at the end of it mentally I was pretty tired."

A break last weekend has re-energised the pivot and despite Fiji conceding an average of 76 points in each of the four tests between the sides, he was wary of the challenge, especially after Fiji beat Samoa, conquerors of Australia on Saturday, 36-18 in Suva 10 days ago.

"It's going to be a tough match because they're always a pretty unpredictable side to come up against and always extremely physical," Carter said.

"Just watching them in the Pacific Nations, some of their games they're extremely physical and like I said with them being so unpredictable they can score tries from the length of the field."

The last time the two sides met in a test match the All Blacks romped to a 91-0 win in Albany as a prelude to their 3-0 series win over the British & Irish Lions in 2005.

That series saw Carter at his best and he turned in a virtuoso performance to score 33 points in the All Blacks' 48-18 humiliation of the tourists in the second test in Wellington, but this season he has been subdued after sitting out part of the Super 15 with a calf injury.

Carter sidestepped a question about his form yesterday, preferring to focus on what lies in front of the All Blacks on Friday, vowing to fight fire with fire.

"We pride ourselves on our physicality, so they (Fiji) are a good match. We're still learning a few things about our game plan so a lot of focus has been on us and not the Fijians," he said.

The emphasis in Dunedin has also been on trying to encourage fans to support Carisbrook's test match swansong - the profits of which will go to the Canterbury earthquake - with ticket sales sluggish early in the week.

The lukewarm response may have raised questions about the allure of the All Blacks, but the sight of about 2000 fans, most of them children, clamouring for signatures after training yesterday would have given the New Zealand Rugby Union hope that decent crowd will flock to the tired ground one last time.

Highlanders utility back Ben Smith is optimistic that locals would rise to the occasion and get out in force.

"I'm sure they'll get along, the people here love footy and I know how passionate they are down this way so the support will come," Smith said.

Fiji named their team yesterday, arriving in Dunedin tonight, and will have only one training run on Carisbrook prior to the match on Thursday.

- NZPA