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New Zealand All Blacks' player Dan Carter re-signs with NZRU (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill).
Dan Carter has re-signed with New Zealand Rugby Union until 2015 in a big positive for the All Blacks. The NZRU apparently inadvertently published on its website the figure of $805,000 a year as payment for Dan Carter to stay on for a few short minutes before it was pulled. If this is the amount of money Carter will be paid, the NZRU have a bargain.
Any number of French clubs would have paid him twice as much as that to get his services.
In fact, the way the deal is structured indicates that at some stage before 2015 Carter will play out a season with a French club.
As Carter explained at the media conference announcing the details (but not all of them) of the deal, including the sabbatical option: ‘It’s more about having the flexibility in case I want to take up that option.’
Aside from the monetary considerations, two other factors came into play in shaping the decisions. Carter’s fiancee Honor Dillon is in the New Zealand women’s hockey side. She lives in Auckland where she is developing a promising marketing career.
Clearly, if Carter lived in, say, France for the next four years her career, in sport and business, would have to be put on hold.
Carter should be believed, too, when he says that ‘there were a few different reasons for signing but the underlying factor was the black jersey.’
The NZRU has a controversial policy that says that (except for special dispensations) if players opt to play rugby out of New Zealand, they won’t be considered for New Zealand selection.
This policy has meant that the Nick Evans, the obvious back-up for Carter, and Carl Hayman won’t be considered for the All Blacks World Cup team. The policy is controversial in that New Zealand deprives itself of the use of some of its better players.
The Springboks do not have a similar policy and this paid off in RWC 2007 when some of their European-based players were their leading lights in the tournament.
As an aside, this is good news for Australian rugby in a roundabout way. With Carter continuing to play for the Crusaders, the Super Rugby tournament retains one of the box office stars of world rugby.
This brings me to a slight niggle about the NZRU’s policy on overseas players. Currently, it also applies to potential All Blacks playing in the Super Rugby tournament.
I think some of the New Zealand players destined for overseas play might be encouraged to play in the Australian or South African conferences, if this meant that they were still eligible for All Blacks selection.
But back to the main game about the Carter decision. It is a huge burst of energy for the All Blacks going into the World Cup tournament.
It will ignite the passions of the players and the New Zealand public. And who knows, Richie McCaw is likely to sign up to a similar sort of deal and, possibly, Sonny Bill Williams.
The implications of all this for the All Blacks will play themselves out over the next few months with RWC 2011, and then into RWC 2015.
But right now, with All Blacks getting injured by the dozens and in a country smashed by earthquakes and floods, the Carter announcement, with its manifest pride in the All Blacks jersey, is just the sort of tonic they need right now in the Shaky Isles to lift the nation’s spirits and ambitions.