All Blacks back Carter stand-in Slade
By Chris Foley, 5 Oct 2011 Chris Foley is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- All Blacks, Colin Slade, Dan Carter, Rugby Union, RWC
Related coverage
The All Blacks have rallied to declare confidence in injured superstar Dan Carter’s Rugby World Cup understudy Colin Slade.
The loss of star playmaker Carter has dominated the New Zealand news since he exited the tournament with a serious groin injury on Saturday, with many questioning the ability of the novice Slade to fill his boots.
But All Blacks backs coach Wayne Smith led the Slade fan club on Tuesday, saying the team’s expectations were really high and that, despite Carter’s absence, “we haven’t altered the bar at all”.
Smith said Slade had similar strengths to the ace pivot “so plans remain the same, expectations are exactly the same, belief of the squad is exactly the same. We don’t see anything’s changed.”
Although the All Blacks are the most successful team in the history of the sport, the only time they have won the World Cup was when they hosted the inaugural tournament in 1987.
The 29-year-old Carter, an astute onfield general, deadly goalkicker and veteran of 85 Tests, was seen as the rugby messiah who would change that, but Smith insisted the team had great faith in Slade, 23, who has a mere nine internationals behind him.
“He’s got huge credibility in the squad and there’s a lot of belief in him. In my experience if you walk in the company of people who believe in you you’re going to achieve,” he said ahead of New Zealand’s quarter-final against Argentina here on Sunday.
All Blacks back-row Kieran Read said the team felt for Carter who was “a massive part” of the squad but had confidence in Slade to fill the demanding role.
“He’s a pretty cool customer. He’s got a level head on his shoulders and he’s done an outstanding job last weekend (against Canada) and he’ll handle it.”
Although Aaron Cruden, who played six Tests for the All Blacks last year, has been added to the squad following Carter’s withdrawal, Smith gave no guarantees he would get any game time.
Goal-kicking halfback Piri Weepu, who has played a lot of Super rugby in the number 10 jersey, is the likely All Blacks back up at five eighth, a role he has filled twice this year.
© AFP 2013Looking to join The Roar team? We're searching for an experienced Group Sales Manager to lead our team in Sydney. Yes, this does mean you get to work with the site all day long! If you're a digital media sales star, we want to hear from you. Apply now.
The Crowd Says (10) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
- Explore:
- All Blacks, Colin Slade, Dan Carter, Rugby Union, RWC
October 5th 2011 @ 7:22am
Emric said | October 5th 2011 @ 7:22am | Report comment
Slade has the confidence of most New Zealanders. He will get the job done.
October 5th 2011 @ 9:35am
Quakezone... said | October 5th 2011 @ 9:35am | Report comment
With the quality of the guys on either side of Slade his role should not be made out to be that difficult, I believe it would be one of the easiest teams to transition into in sport, as long as he just does his job competently, he won’t be Carter, but who would be, he just needs to do his job, distribute , clear and stick to the coaches gameplan….go the mighty AB’s
October 5th 2011 @ 7:09pm
Thurl said | October 5th 2011 @ 7:09pm | Report comment
Thats true,which means SBW won’t be appearing at 2nd 5
October 5th 2011 @ 9:57am
johnny-boy said | October 5th 2011 @ 9:57am | Report comment
Pastry Slade – he’ll crumble at the first hint of pressure. That’s one souffle that will struggle to rise even the first time
October 5th 2011 @ 10:10am
kiwidave said | October 5th 2011 @ 10:10am | Report comment
Don’t puff it up too much, as pastries go, he’s not nearly as flaky as Cooper.
October 5th 2011 @ 11:33pm
guinness14 said | October 5th 2011 @ 11:33pm | Report comment
Kiwi Dave,great come back, your turn JB, what say you on flaky pastry?
October 5th 2011 @ 11:03am
Autobot Prowl said | October 5th 2011 @ 11:03am | Report comment
It is encouraging to hear from Emric and Quakezone the optimism and support for the All Blacks, particularly Colin Slade. During the Tri-Nations and in the past few weeks you do get the feeling that there are quite a lot of people who have already written him off as a player.
In my opinion, this is actually not logical. As a researcher we learn that it is impossible to generalise from case to case unless you have a controlled environment. if Slade was a test subject you would have to play the same combinations around him (mid-field and half-back) to isolate his skill set and ability in different game situations. Therefore, you have to treat his game against Fiji, South Africa, Japan, and Canada as separate cases and with Slade being the only major constant.
However, it may show his ability to perform in sink or swim situations and it may show that he does not react fast enough to different situations. If we look at his time with the highlanders – that is the only piece of data where you can assess his ability consistently in super rugby. This just may mean, like most people, he needs constant time and a long length of time with the same team to play well. However, that still is not enough data to assess him as an All Black because he needs to be assessed in All Black games with the same team of ABs. One can only speculate that he is a confidence player.
Therefore, i don’t expect him to play as well as he can because he has not had the game time with the same team. Better data will be obtained when he plays in the Quarters and if chosen again, in the Semis and assuming the same team is picked. Unfortunately, his time on the field has not been managed well. Often, when he came off the bench it was on the wing, fullback and first five. I am speculating that is hard for a confidence player to play consistently when juggled around the way he has been all season (not to mention with his two injuries). Overall, we just don’t know how good a player he is.
One now hopes that Graham Henry does not second guess his own decsions as a coach. Although it is shown in the media the team’s support of Slade, it needs to be shown on the field. Overall, it is a team game and it is not about one player. if the All Blacks win (even if they had Carter) they win because they win as a team. Johnny-Boy you stated creatively that Slade will crumble at the first hint of pressure- that may be true but it is more important how he reacts after. I dissected his play against Japan and then Canada. He made the mistakes that would be normal to someone being nervous each time he goes on the field in a different situation playing with different combinations. However, he made progress with his general play as he played on. This could be evidence that he needs game time. When he made the break and passed long to Zac for the try that is a possible hint of his ability. One has to also factor in the other players playing around him – the service he gets at halfback and the support he has when he makes the halfbreak.
Only his team and coach are aware what he is like in training and in the environment so therefore, apart from the media show, their opinion must carry some weight. Grant Fox has always had good things to say about Slade, perhaps his comments must also carry some weight?
Anyway, overall this makes interesting viewing -for me the jury is still out for Slade. The ABs to win the cup with a high probablity but no guarantees.
October 5th 2011 @ 1:06pm
Gary Russell-Sharam said | October 5th 2011 @ 1:06pm | Report comment
Slade will do OK and will fill the void that Cater left. He is a fine player and as far as I can see he doesn’t make too many mistakes in fact he is usually underplaying his hand, that’s why some don’t rate him. He seems to do everything that is asked of him and I don’t think they will lose too much with Slade playing. Weepu should be playing as the half back he is really good value there.
October 5th 2011 @ 9:44pm
Sylvester said | October 5th 2011 @ 9:44pm | Report comment
In defence of Slade’s recent performance.
In the games he’s started this WC, he came in late when Carter was ruled. A full week’s prep would be crucial to a lesser experienced player.
Against SA, he had the ABs B team to contend with.
He’ll be fine.
October 6th 2011 @ 6:20am
dwc said | October 6th 2011 @ 6:20am | Report comment
I saw Colin Slade come on in the final bracket against Australia last year, which the ABs won by a point. You know the game, where Richie might have broken from the scrum a little early and scored…
It was a pressure situation, Kaino came on as well, and we kept it tight and ground the Aussies down. Slade kicked and distributed our wide, in calm fashion. He will be fine…