Dan Carter heads to South Africa for coaching role

The 2015 World Cup winner, who scored 1,598 points in 112 Tests for the All Blacks,will be showcasing his talent during the tour at two coaching clinics in Cape Town and Johannesburg on 11 and 12 September, respectively. 

A prolific goal-kicker, a wonderful silky runner and a masterful controller, he possessed the lot and was a genuine match-winner at the highest level. The maestro made his Test debut against Wales in Hamilton in 2003, playing at inside centre and giving a sign of what was to come by scoring 20 points.

One of his greatest performances came in the second Test against the Lions in 2005, when he outshone Wilkinson in their fly-half battle to lead New Zealand to an emphatic 48-18 triumph in Wellington.

He scored two tries, five penalties, and four conversions and ended the match with 33 points, easily eclipsing the previous record of 18.

 The clinics will be targeted at players aged between 13 and 21. 

Ahead of his Kickathon event for UNICEF and the DC10 Fund, the 40-year-old ran through his “best of the best” in a lengthy interview with the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.

CARTER SAID: "He had some blinding games in big moments — none more so than in the 2007 and 2011 World Cup games against the All Blacks."

DID YOU KNOW? He broke the record for most tackles in a match, making 38 tackles against the All Blacks in the 2007 World Cup final

CARTER SAID: "Two giants of the game that have worn the green jersey were Paul O'Connell and Brian O'Driscoll. Their work rate and how they conducted themselves on and off the pitch was exemplary."

CARTER SAID: "He was the toughest player. I played against him once, I was 19-year-old and tried to tackle him, kinda woke up five metres back. He changed the game of rugby.

CARTER SAID: “A real competitor and absolute top bloke off the field as well. His mindset was a little bit different when he was out there competing. That just made him such a tough opponent to come up against.”

DID YOU KNOW? Burger was a member of the 2007 Rugby World Cup-winning team, has twice been named South African Rugby Player of the Year (in 2004 and 2011), and was named IRB Player of the Year in 2004, among other accolades

CARTER SAID: “Probably because I held him in such high regard and had a huge amount of respect for him, it was Jonny Wilkinson. He was an absolute student of the game,

“It was a wild, windy test match down in Wellington, I was on the bench and I hadn’t played a test match for the All Blacks, and he just took that game and, as a 10 that wants to control a game, I’ve never seen anything like it.

“I got the best seats in the house on the bench. Part of me was going, ‘Man, do I really want to get on here because he’s just completely dominating this game’.

“Thankfully I didn’t. I made my test debut the following week, which was a much better game to remember, but I just remember sitting there going, ‘If I ever do play 10’ – I was playing 12 a lot then – ‘this is how you need to control a game’.

“I had a huge amount of respect for him and playing against him.”

DID YOU KNOW? Wilkinson's brother, Mark, was also a Newcastle player who made 16 appearances in the Premiership for the side between 2002 and 2005, predominantly as a centre