Selwyn Times: October 20, 2021

Selwyn Times Wednesday October 20 2021
24
SPORT
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
The pursuit of kicking the perfect ball
Dan Carter has just
released his book Dan
Carter 1598, ($69.99
Upstart Press). Today
we publish an extract
I remembered how my father
always taught me to kick using
both feet. It’s something
I’d always practised but never
achieved in a game. I realised
this was the moment to do it, as
a bit of a tribute to him.
I’ll never forget the first points
I scored in the All Blacks jersey.
Hamilton, 21 June 2003. Doug
Howlett has scored the first try
to put us two points up against
Wales. I’m standing at the back
of my run-up for the conversion
and I’ve never been so nervous
in my life. I’d visualised this moment
since I was a child, kicking
goals to win World Cups in my
backyard — the All Blacks down
by one point, the final whistle’s
gone and I’m kicking from the
sideline to win the game. I’d
been training for this since I
could walk, when my father used
to get my leg and swing it like I
was kicking a ball. But to actually
do it, on the international
stage, was completely different.
It was like the whole country’s
emotions were riding on that one
kick. And it’s simple. You either
get it or you don’t. The fans, the
country, they are either happy, or
they aren’t.
I place the ball on the tee. Go
through my routine — five steps
back, three across. Look up to
the post and visualise the ball
going through. Stare at the sweet
spot of the ball. Tell myself to
relax. Step forward, head down,
follow through. I look up as the
ball sails through the posts and
feel the biggest relief. I went on
to score 20 points that game, all
off the back of that ball sailing
through the posts on my first
kick. That game changed everything.
After that I embraced
pressure. I wanted more moments
like that. I wanted to take
the kick that wins the game.
Looking back now, to have
scored 1598 points over 13 years
and 112 games, it blows me away.
Overtaking legendary kickers
that I looked up to — Grant
Fox, Michael Lynagh, Andrew
Mehrtens, Ronan O’Gara, Neil
Jenkins, Jonny Wilkinson — is
something I could never have
dreamed of. I was fortunate to
play in so many amazing All
Blacks teams which gave me
plenty of opportunities to kick
conversions and penalties and
score tries. Without them, there’s
no way I would have gotten close
to scoring 1598 points. These
photos capture so many amazing
moments we shared in the black
jersey, and I’m filled with nostalgia
looking back on these times.
When I look through these
pages, I also see a never-ending
journey: the pursuit of kicking
the perfect ball. A pursuit that
started back in Southbridge,
Canterbury, where my dad built
me posts in the backyard for
my eighth birthday. As soon as
I could kick the ball over the
posts, I’d go back another five
metres until eventually I was
kicking the length of the lawn,
over a fence, around a tree,
searching for that perfect kick.
For me, these photos show a
continuation from those first
ROUTINE: All Black Dan
Carter lines up and kicks
a conversion for the All
Blacks against Wales, in
Hamilton, in 2003.
PHOTOS: GETTY
kicks in the backyard at home. A
pursuit of perfection I’m still trying
to achieve, even after retiring,
down at my local rugby field.
I’m also reminded of what the
camera didn’t capture. The hard
work and resilience it took off
the field to keep coming back,
season after season, to try to be
the best player on it. Two kicks
that still stick with me didn’t
occur on the international stage,
but will also stay with me forever.
The first: tearing my groin
while kicking in training during
the 2011 World Cup, a day before
what was meant to be my first
time captaining the All Blacks.
An injury that ended my World
Cup and threatened to end my
career. The second: my first kick
after surgery, four months later.
I was at the back of my run-up
and for the first time ever I didn’t
want to kick. I talked myself
through it, walked in, kicked,
and the ball literally rolled about
20 metres across the ground.
Dan Carter 1598 is a
celebration of the All Blacks
legend’s world record test
career.
I had to adapt. Keep evolving.
Find a way. Hopefully, this book
gives a sense of that journey, too
— rebuilding myself to try to be
the best again.
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Just four years later, I scored
my final points as an All Black
with my final kick in international
rugby, and probably my favourite.
Beauden Barrett had just
scored a try. I had a conversion
right in front of the posts in the
final minute of the game. Placing
the tee, I remembered how my
father always taught me to kick
using both feet. It’s something
I’d always practised but never
achieved in a game. I realised
this was the moment to do it, as
a bit of a tribute to him. I quickly
took the kick off my right foot
and thankfully it sailed through
the posts. My final sign-off kicking
in international rugby. 1598.
Breaking records was never
why I played — to me it was
all about the team. I know this
milestone won’t last. But hopefully,
looking through these
images that show my journey
to 1598, someone out there may
be inspired to pursue their own
impossible dream.
– NZ Herald
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