All Black number 10 Dan Carter talks to the New Zealand Herald at Eden Rugby Club in Sandringham on Wednesday. 19 August 2015. New Zealand Herald photograph by Nick Reed.19 August 2015. New Zealand He
All Black number 10 Dan Carter talks to the New Zealand Herald at Eden Rugby Club in Sandringham on Wednesday. 19 August 2015. New Zealand Herald photograph by Nick Reed.19 August 2015. New Zealand He
All Blacks first-five tells Patrick McKendry you have to walk towards the pressure.
It's four days after Dan Carter starred in a demolition job over the Wallabies and he is sitting in the Eden Rugby clubrooms, a couple of spiral kicks away from Eden Park, considering a question about the importance of the mental side of the game at the highest level.
After a quiet match against Australia in Sydney, a test the All Blacks lost, along with the Rugby Championship, Carter showed the attacking instincts of old at his team's fortress.
Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter celebrate after winning the Bledisloe Cup match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies. Photo / Getty Images
His attacking of the line, pace and elusiveness reaped try assists for Dane Coles and Ma'a Nonu and helped the men in black - boots and all after their decision to do away with their recent fluoro footwear fetish - retain the Bledisloe Cup in their final test before the Rugby World Cup and send Richie McCaw and co off on a high note.
All was well again in New Zealand, partly because, as coach Steve Hansen revealed afterwards, Carter went into the match with a clear idea of exactly what he wanted to do after a mid-week conversation with assistant coach Ian Foster.
Dan Carter talks with assistant coach Ian Foster during an All Blacks training session. Photo / Getty Images
"If you're running around and having to think a lot you're going to be slow and not reacting as quickly. That can often happen at the start of campaigns, or if you're coming back from injury, or if there are extra moves or new game plans. There are a lot of things that can create clutter going into a game.
"I thought I was okay going into Sydney but obviously having another week together - there weren't a lot of changes to the team or game plan - I guess it worked in our favour."
The All Blacks' mantra for the last World Cup - a potentially suffocating environment after their failures to win the William Webb Ellis trophy since 1987 - was to walk towards the pressure, to embrace it.
It is something England will have to work out for themselves, as Hansen recently told the Times newspaper, as they prepare to repeat their 2003 success but in the cauldron of not only a tough pool but also an expectant Twickenham.
Asked if his team's approach would be similar to last time, Carter says: "That's more a mindset of playing test rugby. Every week there's pressure and expectation, and you ... have to embrace the pressure or walk towards it. It's something we talk about every year, not just World Cup year. I'm not sure what the mindset or theme is going to be for this World Cup. Obviously we'll wait until the team is named and I'm sure the coaches will give their views on something to really drive the team. But it's already been talked about, this team wanting to win back-to-back World Cups, so that's going to be a real driving force.
"It's something that's never been done before so it's ... hard to do, you can't just turn up and expect it to happen. It will take a lot of hard work ... and we know with World Cups anything can happen on the day. When you come to the playoff stage, don't take anything for granted."
Jerome Kaino said something interesting recently when asked about the difference of the team 10 years ago compared with the All Blacks of today. The loose forward reckoned in the old days players would be left to sink or swim. If they could cope with the pressure they'd thrive - if not, they would drop out and someone else would have a go.
Jerome Kaino, Dan Carter and Kieran Read perform the Haka. Photo / Getty Images
Carter agrees, saying the likes of Lima Sopoaga and Nehe Milner-Skudder have coped so well in their first season of test rugby because they are supported to the fullest in order to express themselves.
"Something that has changed in this team is the leadership group and the players are really driving things; obviously working really closely with the management and the key messages that are brought to us, but I just think the team functions so much better when the players are driving things and that includes the younger players as well, making sure they have their say but that they also feel they're in an environment where they can contribute.
"That helps them become comfortable in the environment from day one rather than having to do their time to earn respect.
"Obviously you still need a part of that, but they feel, I'd like to think, comfortable from day one."
It takes mental strength, as well as physical durability, to come back from the injuries Carter has had. His last World Cup was ended by a groin injury suffered as he practised his goalkicking before the final pool game in Wellington, but he's able to push that out of his mind, just as he is able to be satisfied with his kicking on less practice.
Dan Carter shows the pain of a groin injury suffered during an All Blacks captain's run at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Photo / Getty Images
"It was a bit of a freak accident; I've had my groin operated on and I'm back to full strength now without any problems so that's reassuring.
"There are times when I might have a few niggles and I've just got to back that I've been kicking goals pretty much all my life, so if I miss a session or only have a smaller number of kicks in a session, then it doesn't faze me like it used to.
"I used to have to kick so many balls a week, whereas now I could have a goalkicking session and only have five kicks - just get into a bit of a rhythm and I'm happy with that, backing the 30-odd years of work I've done beforehand."
It's clear what another opportunity - his fourth World Cup - means to Carter, and now there is only a matter of weeks before it starts he is allowing himself to focus fully on it for the first time.
"I'm excited. I have to wait until the team naming before I get too ahead of myself, but the World Cup has been quite a big distraction throughout the year.
"To have the Rugby Championship and Super Rugby season all behind you, that's all that's left for the year. You can actually start embracing it and think a bit more about it. There are going to be some pretty nervous times for the players over the next few weeks before the team is named but ... hopefully I'll hear my name read out and that's when the work begins."
Carter was speaking in his capacity as an official Rugby World Cup MasterCard ambassador
Dan Carter's 'priceless' World Cup moments
• World Cup final - Eden Park 2011 - All Blacks 8 France 7: "I didn't play, but after the final whistle - walking around the stadium and seeing all the hugs the boys were giving each other...and that sense of being really proud and relieved to finally win the World Cup, was special.
Dan Carter celebrates after the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup Final between France and New Zealand at Eden Park. Photo / Getty Images
• First World Cup match - Melbourne 2003 - All Blacks 70 Italy 7: "My first World Cup game and there was something unique about it. For a 21-year-old to play a World Cup match in a sold-out stadium was a cool experience. It was mind-blowing."
Dan Carter breaks through the Italian defence at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne 11 October 2003. Photo / Getty Images
• World Cup pool victory over France - Eden Park 2011 - All Blacks 37 France 17: "Probably my best World Cup performance. It was our toughest pool match and we put 30-odd points on them. I was pretty happy with the way I played that day. It was a great game."
