KEY POINTS:
First five-eighths Daniel Carter says the "burden" of winning a World Cup is driving some All Blacks out of New Zealand, while he remains torn over whether to spend a year in England himself.
Carter is contracted to the New Zealand Rugby Union until the end of 2008 but indicated he remained committed to playing at the 2011 World Cup.
Whether he tastes some short-term action in Europe before then remains to be seen.
"The All Blacks have always meant everything to me. It is what I've wanted since the age of 4 or 5. That hasn't changed," Carter said in a wide-ranging feature in the Times newspaper.
"Whether I come over here for a year, or stick around New Zealand for another four years, that's one of those decisions I will have to make."
Carter, who is on a promotional visit to London, understood why several of his World Cup teammates had opted to leave for England, with the expectations that come with being an All Blacks a negative to some.
"Since winning in'87, we have been expected to win every other World Cup," Carter said.
"That becomes quite a burden, a real weight on your shoulders. There's always that pressure and it is part of the reason some of the guys come over here.
"They play over here for a club. You might play more games than you would play in a New Zealand season, but it is more structured.
"You play for one team, week in, week out, and you are allowed to concentrate on that. In New Zealand, you play for three or four teams, the standard changes but you must always play well."
Carter spoke openly about what went wrong in New Zealand's 20-18 World Cup quarter-final loss to France last month, agreeing his team didn't respond well when the pressure went on in the second half.
He said the All Blacks' attack narrowed when second five-eighths Luke McAlister was sent to the sinbin early in the second half, which wasn't their natural game.
"Because we did that, we made it easier for the French to defend against us. Luke came back on and we didn't change our game plan," Carter said.
"We got our second try from a series of close-in drives but the French defended a lot tighter after that and we needed to change it, but we didn't."
Carter missed the closing stages after limping off with a recurrence of a calf injury and admitted his teammates should have attempted a dropped goal.
"This is something we could learn from the England side, and other teams over here. They have set plays for drop goals," he said.
"That's a big part of the game over here, whereas you go to the Super 14 and you will probably see two drop goals in the whole competition.
"We practise drop-goal routines but it's not part of our culture. In the situation we were in, it would have been the most appropriate thing to do."
Carter revealed that when the team returned to their hotel after the loss he disappeared to his bedroom but couldn't sleep.
He was woken at 4.30am by teammates Chris Masoe and Ali Williams who told him to rejoin them for a beer.
Carter, 25, said the loss was an enormous personal learning experience after an international career that had been "plain sailing" until then.
"I thought it would continue like that but it didn't. Looking back, I can see I was vulnerable. Not having had a bad experience beforehand, I hadn't a chance to learn from it," Carter said.
"It wasn't arrogance, it was just that I hadn't the benefit of what comes from a huge loss. I hadn't played in the 2003 semifinal [loss to Australia].
"As long as I learn from this, I think things will be fine."
- NZPA
