All Blacks star Carter out of World Cup

He's getting facial surgery, tattoos and a head shave, then we're going to switch him for Quade Cooper for the semifinal. And finally you shalt know the crushing disappointment.

I think the key ingredient about winning a world cup has been consistency. You don't necessarily have to have the best group of players on the park to be competitive (although it helps a lot) but they have to work together as well as they are capable and to make full use of opportunities which will surely present themselves as a result of the aforementioned consistency. Therefore the rugby world cup is still very much an "open" contest at this point among the final eight.No single team is streaks ahead of the pack. NZ are always going to be favoured somewhat simply because of the number of class performers in their 22; Wales have hit a purple patch and would want it to run for a few more games at least; the Irish and Argentines have a similar bustling forward based game; the Wallabies are unpredictable but can turn it one in the right conditions; France have been quiet and may or may not be Les Blues of old but no one should underestimate their quality in spite of Tonga; the Boks can claim to have some momentum based on their 4-0 record but two of those matches could easily have been losses; and the English have a style that is not unlike the Boks, Argentines and irish. This WC is wide open because of the emergence of contenders outside the top four of world rugby.

I felt bad for Drew Mitchel when he pulled up with an injury to his hamstring just the other day. AB fan.

Have you noticed, the few times the wallabies beat the ABS, is not because they played well, it's because the ABS happen to have an off day.

You're right, everything would suggest that the AB"s are the team to beat but scratch the surface... It will be exposed when the AB's meet South Africa in Semi's.

Thanks for the compliment Matt, appreciate the feedback. Um, just an observer like yourself but hope you remember this particular post in a couple of weeks time :)

Oh you are a pessimistic lot. There are as many Aussies on this thread talking up NZ chances as there are Kiwis. You still have about half a team of World 15 standard players. Stop being so bloody ungrateful. This is an opportunity for you lot to learn a bit of Aussie optimism. Lessons start now. For your homework- practice being nice to Quade.

When Cruden was last in the AB's I believed he was too small and lacked the skills to be an AB First 5. Having watched the man in the ITM Cup, I was impressed. He had bulked-up, improved his kicking to be the leading kicker in the tourni and got Manuwatu to the final single-handedly. I believed Slade was the man for the job. Having seen Slade verses Canada, I just know he wont cope agasinst Aus or SA in a tense semi. Weepu is the probably the man for the job, but who does that leave at scrum-half? Cowan and Ellis were very ordinary against Canada. So I'm betting we will see Slade start against Argentina, and replaced by Cruden who will show he is the better option for the semi, with Weepu as backup. Anyway I look at it, its a nightmare!

right on matt I feel the same way. If we never heard of dan carter I'd still back the all blacks to win most games, and that includes richie mccaw. With carter out I must admit I feel a bit aprehensive but exceted.

Cannot help but feel gutted for Dan Carter. A cruel blow to him after years of dominance. Another tremor to add to his personal earthquake. Hope he ....I was about to say ....enjoys his team's victories. Then I realised that the second one would be against us if we make the semi. Well I am a bit lost now. Terrible news for Carter and his fans especially those in Christchurch. But I agree with another poster yesterday - maybe Carter and McCaw have been over-used by the coaches. Like Larkham was up to the last world cup. Only to break down at the worst time. But other teams especially the Wallabies should not get too excited. We haven't beaten NZ with Jerome Kaino yet. And there are a few Boks to knock over before we get a shot at a Carter-less NZ. I would expect weepu to fill in with an entirely different game plan for the backs. Sad week for this brilliant player. I now return to normal transmission....c'mon the Wallabies !!! (And would you lot please stop booing Aussie Quade.)

Slade looks like he could burst in to tears any moment

More than ever it's a mental game from here '. That would win a prize for understatement of the year 

Nice post and analysis Peter. I was just telling my Aussie wife this morning over breakfast that I really feel for the Wallabies as they just can't seem to catch a break with all their injuries. Cue jaw dropping to the ground when I found that Carter was out for the tournament. Such a cruel blow for one of NZ's greatest ever players. It's a telling blow for sure, outside of Carter's ability the toughest factor to replace is his experience, particularly in pressure games. There's nobody else who plays in his position that comes close to matching it. There's no point trying to compare Slade or Cruden to Carter or in trying to mould them in his image, and there is precious little time to run them into match winning form either. The coaches will need to tinker their gameplans to suit whomever is playing at 10. Where the composure, decision making and goalkicking of Carter would imbue confidence in All Blacks supporters as we progress into the jeopardy rounds, there will be much angst and fear about our ability to convert the pressure our forwards can exert into points especially as defences tighten and referees decisions become more influential. Our best hope is to take the referee out of the equation and produce points in multiples of five, however it remains to be seen if our strikepower carries as much threat against stronger defences without their master conductor.

maybe but their current form hasn't been awesome either. Almost got beat by wales, did not put Samoa away as they should have and might not make it past the austarlians

Agree Mario, except i want Cooper to play for the Wallabies......replace that sentiment with Pocock or Genia, best forward, best back, most influential in team. Losing them would be like ABs losing McCaw and Carter Pray we dont have to be without them both. McCaw now more important than ever

OJ the team that is playing now is vastly superior than they were when they were running without carter in the past. Even if slade or Piri run at ten and just provide good link play we are still likely to have a very strong likelihood of winning 9 out of every 10 matches we have so much power across the path. To be honest the whole no 10 ten thing has been mismanaged by Henry and co since they started with the Blacks - They have never nurtured another ten! Anyway Slade will be a champion ten in the future - he has class written all over him. A bit nervous at the moment but he will grow to be amazing. Cruden is also going to be a quality ten of a different type - his itm cup campaign was outstanding. However it will all be undone if they continue to play Carter at ten in every game - we will have cruden and slade do a nick evans and get sick of being the understudy and leave.

Spot in with your interpretation there jeremy. Equally correct with your assessment regarding national fans. As I've suggested, as with all populations you've got your bad eggs. I was at the game and didn't witness any but I've got no doubt that of the 52,000 people at Suncorp for the last game of the Tri Nations, there would have been some unsavoury incidents. Unfortunate and not in anyway supporting the douche bags responsible, but this just what happens when you get a large crowd and add in passion and booze. Regardless of where you are in the world. But you can't let the minorities which exist in all of these groups dictate a negative stereotype. As you can see from the flow above, the light was shined on the Eden Park incident to suggest to one of your naive countrymen that your fans aren't exactly on some devine level above ours in terms of gentlemanly behaviour (Just so I don't get anyone off side here can I state the obvious and add to this that I'm not suggesting Australian fans are above our Kiwi cousins).

Who cares who feels sorry for who, what, where or bloody why PeterK, it's just an irrelevant non issue, seriously? Get over yourself. Yes we lost a key player, he is one man, if the AB's can't win without him then they do not deserve to win by any stretch of the imagination. To those also arguing the daft point of who has the better behaved fan base... sweet jebus, how about we ask woman's day magazine to do a poll aye? EVERY country has rat bags that spoil it for everyone or give a bad impression get yourselves a tissue, if you feel your country has angels for fans then you need to be poked with sharp sticks. Yes I got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

jeremy - exactly. Just like I feel sorry for Dan. The kiwi posters empthasise for the individual BUT not many posters say they feel bad for the wallabies team ie that they have been weakened.

Couldn't agree more re the press but oh god don't we kiwis love a tragedy...it's going to be doom and gloom for the next year or so. I strongly suspect Graham Henry has a couple of files marked 'Injury: R H McCaw' and 'Injury: D Carter' sitting in the back of his filing cabinet. They're thin files, but it is inconceivable that he and the coaching staff wouldn't have plans B through Z ready to go. Poor Dan. Two world cups, two injuries. I can't see him making the RWC squad for 2015 at 33 years old.