2023-09-12 09:41:00
You have retired from the field since 2020. How is your new life going?
Dan Carter: My life is very nice I must say! It’s been two and a half years since I stopped my career and I have quietly moved into the new chapter of my life. In this way, writing a book helped me to envisage what my daily life would be like after rugby, particularly with regard to my new objectives. When I was playing, I wanted to be the best rugby player and when rugby stopped, I had to redefine what was going to motivate me going forward and what I had to do to get there. I then discovered how much I wanted to help people in their everyday lives. This is why I compiled a book into ten lessons where I share my experience and what I learned to contribute something. Not only to athletes, but also to businessmen, leaders and more generally to those who want to be better than yesterday.
You write in your book that you were always anxious about the idea of stopping rugby. Was it the fact of not having played a match during your last contract in 2020 with the Auckland Blues that made you understand that the time had come?
DC: The first time I thought about quitting rugby was in 2013! I had several injuries and I thought my body was telling me to stop. Fortunately, I did not make this decision and I had great success, at Racing 92, in Japan and in the national team, notably with this second World Cup in a row in 2015. But I always felt during these years that all this would soon end. I knew I couldn’t play forever. So yes, I wanted to play as long as possible and often. When I got injured and thought maybe it was time to stop, I ended up motivating myself to keep going. In 2020, there was the pandemic and confinement. I was with my family and I realized there was something to life above rugby. I have four children, I needed to spend more time with them and stop wanting to continue this 18-year path into professional rugby again and again. This is more what motivated my decision to stop.
Dan Carter has not played a single game for the Auckland Blues
Credit: Getty Images
I had a lot of doubts and fears when I stopped playing rugby
Have you fully digested this little death today?
DC: Yes. It’s true that when you stop, you feel like you’re losing your identity. Who am I now that I’m no longer Dan Carter, the rugby player? I had a lot of doubts and fears because I didn’t go to university so I didn’t have a degree to fall back on and I wondered how I could do well after rugby. I then sat down and realized that I had received a different form of instruction. I have the tools to handle pressure, I know how to develop team culture, as well as the power of resilience when tough times come. All these subjects, I told myself that I could share them with people and that it could have a positive social impact on them.
You have incredible experience and track record. Have you not thought about sharing it with a professional team, as a coach?
DC: I love the flexibility of my new life. I have four children and I prefer to train them to grow up well rather than coaching a professional rugby team. I’m also quite busy with business so let’s say that I’m very good like that.
You were on the pitch at the Stade de France on Friday for the opening match of the World Cup. Tell us about this moment…
DC: I think it was the greatest World Cup opening match there has ever been. It pitted two of the best nations in the world against each other. No one really knew who would emerge victorious. France was probably the favorite, for the first time since… (he pauses and smiles). The fact that it was happening in France generated a lot of excitement and the French victory raised that excitement even higher.
What did you think of the match itself?
DC: France showed enough confidence in themselves to stay in the match for an hour before making the decision in the last twenty minutes, which shows all their mental strength at the moment.
New Zealand world champion? Of course I believe it!
New Zealand has always been the big favorite in all World Cups. How can we explain the difficulties she has experienced since the last World Cup?
DC: I think it’s above all a question of regularity. They have the players and the potential to beat any team. It just needs to be more regular, like France or Ireland who have been very consistent over the last three years. I think she has progressed a lot this year compared to last year. She showed more regularity even if it is true that she lost her last two matches. This last defeat against France is hard to take but the team can and must learn from it to do better afterwards, which is an opportunity that it will not have during the tough matches.
The New Zealand scrum under the gaze of Antoine Dupont
Credit: Imago
Didn’t the repositioning of your designated successor Beauden Barrett at the back to make room for Richie Mo’unga at fly-half upset the balance of the team?
DC: I don’t think we can blame New Zealand’s lack of consistency solely on two players. They are world-class players and the challenge was precisely to bring these two world-class players together. I think competition pushed them both to the top. This also offers alternation since Beauden can come from time to time to place himself in the number 10 position and allow Richie to gain more depth. The coach had to make some very tough choices but I believe they are the two best in their position currently in New Zealand.
Do you think New Zealand can still be world champions?
DC: Of course I believe in it! She just has to make sure she qualifies for the quarter-finals and then everything can happen. She has the team for it. However, she must regain her confidence first because a very big game awaits in the quarter with either South Africa, Ireland or Scotland. I know that with confidence, New Zealand can beat these teams. If it’s South Africa, you’ll have to have a lot of confidence, because the Springboks are full of it. I hope it will do so with, why not, a France – New Zealand rematch in the final.
This French team is different from all the French teams that have played in the World Cup
Let’s talk about France. What inspires you about this team, very different from the one you beat 62-13 in the quarter-finals of the 2015 World Cup?
DC: I believe that this France 2023 team is different from all the French teams that played in the World Cup. She is really consistent in her performance! There was a lot of pressure on her for the first match at home and she was able to draw inspiration from all this anticipation and this magnificent atmosphere at the stadium. What emerges from this team is a culture where no individual is more important than the team itself. The players play as a team. Add to that incredible squad depth and you have this very tough team to beat.
She lost her starting opener (Romain Ntamack) this summer. Can we see a parallel there with New Zealand in 2011, who lost you to injury at the start of the competition?
DC: I don’t advise France to take us as a model because we lost three openers in total during this 2011 World Cup (Carter, Cruden then Slade during the final, Editor’s note)! It’s very sad for Romain, who was a key part of his team and who played superb rugby. I hope he comes back stronger. His replacement, Matthieu Jalibert, played very well on Friday and showed that he could do the job perfectly. I come back but France has such depth of squad that even major injuries do not change its level too much.
Maxime Lucu (from behind), in the arms of Matthieu Jalibert (from the front) – France vs New Zealand, September 8, 2023
Credit: Getty Images
In your opinion, is Antoine Dupont the best player in the world today?
DC: He’s a special player. We talked about pressure: he became captain of the France team and nothing changed in his way of being and playing. His leadership on the pitch remains enormous and he is very consistent in his high-level performances. He is a centerpiece of the France team.
The pressure of hosting the World Cup is a privilege
You have experienced the pressure of being favorite for a World Cup at home. What advice would you give to the Blues to prevent it from crushing them?
DC: It must be good pressure for the players. If you ask any of them where the best place to play a World Cup is, they will all say home. Certainly, it brings external pressure and expectation, but I believe that the pressure you impose on yourself to perform in each match far exceeds that from the outside, which you cannot control. This pressure of receiving the World Cup is therefore a privilege.
A word about South Africa. They are the reigning world champions and a very experienced team. A bit like New Zealand in 2015…
DC: They seem very strong! They are powerful, precise, they play good rugby and are dominant as we saw against New Zealand before the competition (35-7). He is clearly a dangerous contender for this World Cup. They will be hard to beat and have a good chance of going all the way.
If you had to bet today on the future winner of the World Cup, who would you choose?
DC: If I had to bet from my heart, I would say New Zealand. But I’m not a gambler! This World Cup is really special because it is difficult to say who will win it. There are the teams that we mentioned and then obviously Ireland, which is a very strong team too. It’s very open.
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