Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a New Zealand retired

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. Carter played for the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

in Super Rugby and for New Zealand's national team, the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

. He is the highest point scorer in test match rugby, and is considered by many experts as the greatest ever first five-eighth (fly-half) in the history of the game. He was named the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

Player of the Year in 2005, 2012 and 2015. Carter played for the All Blacks in their Rugby World Cup winning teams in both

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, becoming one of 43 players to have won multiple Rugby World Cups. In 2011, he captained the team against the French, shortly before he suffered a groin injury during the pool stage; in 2015, he played during the entire tournament, including in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against Australia, where he kicked four penalties, two conversions, and a drop goal, and was named the man of the match. He also won three

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

titles with the Crusaders, and nine Tri-Nations and Rugby Championships with New Zealand.

Early life

Carter was born in a small town 10 minutes drive from the Carter family home in Southbridge in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand, to Neville and Bev Carter and has one older sister, Sarah. From the age of 5, he played with Southbridge Rugby Club as a half back (scrum half) and would go on to make representative teams for Ellesmere & Canterbury Country. He attended Ellesmere College where he played mostly at first five-eighth, and then in his final year he transferred to Christchurch Boys' High School to further his chances of succeeding in rugby. Some have said he was a shy and quiet young man who kept grand aspirations to himself. His great uncle was Canterbury and New Zealand half back Bill Dalley, a member of the 1924–25 '' Invincibles'' and later a Canterbury rugby administrator.

Domestic career

Carter made his provincial debut for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in 2002, and in 2003 was signed by the Super Rugby side the

. Initially playing mainly at second five-eighth Carter reached the final of the Super 12 competition with the Crusaders in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Although they lost the 2003 and 2004 finals, in 2005 Carter had moved to first five-eighth. He regularly played with first-five eighth

Andrew Mehrtens Andrew Philip Mehrtens (born 28 April 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He was regarded as a top first five-eighth, having played first for Canterbury in 1993, before being selected for the All Blacks (New Zealand's national ...

before Mehrtens left the team following their 2004 season. In 2005 and 2006 the Crusaders won the competition, and in the 2006 season Carter scored the most individual points for a player in one season with 221. In April 2008, Carter was linked with several European clubs. In June 2008, Carter made the decision to sign a six-month contract with French club side

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

, who then paid Carter the equivalent of £30,000 per game, during his

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work; "an extended period of time intentionally spent on something that’s not your routine job." The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Bi ...

season. On 31 January 2009 Carter ruptured his Achilles tendon playing for Perpignan against Stade Francais, but Perpignan still managed to win the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

despite Carter being injured for the remainder of the season. He recovered in time to play for his home provincial union, Canterbury, in the opening game of the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup. He then won selection to play for the All Blacks against Australia on 22 August 2009 after a few months of recovery. In May 2012, Carter was the top scorer in Super Rugby history, with 1301 points. In December 2014 it was announced Carter would be joining Parisian club Racing Metro after the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

, on a three-year deal worth a reported €1,500,000 a season, making him the world's highest paid rugby player. In November 2015 Carter revealed that, while recovering from an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

tear in 2013, he met with

Robert Kraft Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainmen ...

, the owner of the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

about possibly joining the team as a kicker. On 24 June 2016, Carter helped Racing Metro win the 2016

final with a 29–21 win against

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

scoring 15 points (5 penalties) and was named Man of the Match despite being down to 14 men 18 minutes into the game after teammate

Maxime Machenaud Maxime Machenaud (born 30 December 1988) is a French rugby union player. His position is Scrum-half (rugby union), scrum-half and he currently plays for Aviron Bayonnais, Bayonne and formerly of the France national rugby union team, France nation ...

got sent off for a dangerous tackle on Australian international

Matt Giteau Matthew James Giteau (born 29 September 1982) is an Australian rugby union professional player who plays for the San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby (MLR). Giteau plays as a Rugby union positions#Utility players, utility back. His usual posi ...

. On 25 November 2017, Carter left

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner Banlieue, suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity Stadium#Types, domed stadium Pa ...

in France at the end of the season. On 16 July 2018, Carter joined Kobelco Steelers, a club in the Japanese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by ...

. On 17 February 2019, it was announced that Dan Carter was returning to

as injury cover after Patrick Lambie was forced to retire due to concussions. On 4 June 2020, it was announced that Dan Carter was joining The Blues for Super Rugby Aotearoa. However he never made a professional appearance for the side. On 20 February 2021, Dan Carter announced that he was retiring from professional rugby via his Instagram.

International career

In June 2003, Carter made his All Blacks debut at age 21 in

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton (, ) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato, Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's List of c ...

, scoring 20 points against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He was then capped against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, which the All Blacks won 31–23. He was also a substitute in a match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

(the ''Wallabies'') in Sydney, which the All Blacks won 50–21. Carter was then included in New Zealand's

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

squad, where he first gained serious international attention. Carter spent much of the later stages of the tournament on the bench leaving New Zealand without a specialist goal-kicker. However, he did play in the games against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in Melbourne, which the All Blacks won 70–7, and the wins over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. Although he has been an All Black since 2003 he only secured a permanent position as the first five-eighth in the team during the 2004 tour to the United Kingdom and France displacing

Carlos Spencer Carlos James Spencer (born 14 October 1975) is a former New Zealand rugby union player and previously the head coach of the and the . He is currently an assistant coach for the New Orleans Gold of Major League Rugby (MLR). During his playing ...

. He had been playing as a second five-eighths up until the end of the 2004 Tri-Nations. In 2005, Carter starred in the All Blacks 48–18 win over the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

. He scored two tries, five penalties, and four conversions. He ended the match with 33 points, passing the previous All Blacks record of 18 points in a Lions Test (Carter's second-half total of 22 points by itself was sufficient to top this). The performance was later described by The Guardian as "the definitive fly-half display of the modern era". DC conversion

Carter was named IRB Player of the Year in 2005, becoming the first New Zealander to win the award. On 27 November 2010, after scoring a halfway penalty against Wales, Carter became the highest point scorer of all time, overtaking England's

Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and French side Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scori ...

's previous record of 1,178 although Wilkinson took the record back on 26 February 2011 against France. Carter reclaimed the record on 30 July 2011 when he advanced to 1,204 points in the first tri-nations match of the 2011 series against South Africa. He has currently scored a total of 1,598 test points (29 tries, 293 conversions, 281 penalties, and 8 drop goals) in 112 tests, with an average of 14.27 points a game (the highest average for players who have scored more than 500 Test points). Along with

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captain (sports), captained the New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 t ...

Carter earns 750,000 NZD a year being the joint highest paid player in New Zealand. This high paying contract by the New Zealand Rugby Union is not subject to form or fitness as both players are regarded as integral to the All Blacks

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

plans. It was announced on 1 October that Carter would captain the All Blacks for the first time against Canada. However, it was later announced that Carter would miss the rest of the

after tearing a groin tendon during the final training session before the match against Canada. Carter has signed a contract to re-sign with the NZRU until 2015. Carter was named IRB Player of the Year in 2012, but eyebrows were raised when he missed out being named in the shortlist for New Zealand Player of the Year. On 16 November 2013, Carter became the fifth All Black to play 100 caps when New Zealand defeated

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

by 30–22 at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

on their end of year tour. On 17 July 2015, Carter and

played their final match in Christchurch together, after Carter took a deal to play for Racing Metro in France. On 15 August 2015 Carter played his final test in New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup decider at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

, a trophy he has never lost since his debut. He later appeared with McCaw in a ''

Men In Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are government agents dressed in dark suits, who question, interrogate, harass, and threaten unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses to keep them silent about what they have ...

'' themed safety video for

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 28 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily within the Pacific Rim. The airline h ...

. In the 2015 Rugby World Cup final against Australia, Carter scored four penalties, converted two tries (with the final one taken with his right boot), and kicked a drop goal that gave the All Blacks the winning moment. Due to the performance, he was named the Man of the Match. Following the All Blacks' victory, he received the IRB Player of the Year award for the third time.

International record

Carter holds the world record for the total number of conversions (293) and also total number of penalties (281) in rugby. He also holds the record for test points scored against England (178), France (163) and South Africa (255). Carter is the only player in rugby history to have scored more than 1,500 test points a total of 1,598 which is 352 more than second place

. Carter also holds the record for average points per match (for players who have scored more than 500 points) of 14.27. Carter holds the all-time record for most conversions in World Cup matches at 58. Test record overall: Test tries:

Personal life

Carter became engaged to his longtime girlfriend and former Black Sticks striker Honor Dillon in October 2010 when she was a marketing manager at

DB Breweries DB Breweries is a New Zealand–based brewing company, owned by Heineken Asia Pacific. Founded in 1930 by Sir Henry Kelliher and W Joseph Coutts, the partners purchased Levers and Co. and the Waitemata Brewery Co. in Ōtāhuhu. Asia Pacific Br ...

. The couple married on 9 December 2011, and have gone on to have four children. Wedding guests included

and All Blacks former coach Graham Henry. Carter has modelled for Jockey underwear on billboards worldwide since 2003. In 2009, Carter's future wife joined him in one campaign. In 2004 and 2005, Carter was voted sexiest New Zealand male in a survey, receiving 35.7% of the vote in 2005. In 2008, American Cable Channel E! judged Carter to be 11th on its list of the world's sexiest men, and in 2010 E! voted him the world's 3rd sexiest male athlete. Carter has also been a

spokesmodel A promotional model is a Model (person), model hired to drive demand, consumer demand for a product, service, brand, or concept by directly interacting with potential customers. Most promotional models are conventionally attractive in physical app ...

for

Daikin is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Osaka. Daikin is the world's largest air conditioner manufacturer. History Daikin Industries Ltd was founded in 1924 as by Akira Yamada. In 1953, Daiflon or polychloro ...

heat pumps, and from mid-2011,

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

electric shavers. Both Dan and Honor Carter have been spokespeople for Chemist Warehouse since 2020. They are also shareholders for Farradays, a luxury department store and bar in Parnell. In February 2017, Carter was caught driving in Paris with a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit. He was subsequently dropped by his sponsor,

Land Rover Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil ...

. In May 2018, Carter stated that he declined an offer to switch to

(NFL) as a kicker for

after The Rugby World Cup in 2015.

Honours

Canterbury

* NPC/Air New Zealand Cup Champion, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2010 *

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge ...

holder

Crusaders

Champion

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

* NZ Conference Winner, 2011 * Super Rugby Centurion

Perpignan

Champion

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Racing 92

Champion

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Kobelco Steelers

Champion

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

New Zealand

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

champion,

and

* Tri Nations/ The Rugby Championship champion,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and 2014 * Bledisloe Cup 2003 - 2015 *

series victory,

* Home Nations Grand Slam Tour,

and

* All Black test centurion

Personal accolades

* Kelvin Tremain Memorial Trophy (NZ Player of the Year) 2004 and 2005 * Rebel Sport Super 14 Player of the Year 2004 and 2006 * IRB Player of the Year 2005, 2012 and 2015 (Nominee in 2006 and 2008) *

BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year The BBC World Sport Star of the Year (formerly known as the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year) is an award presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. The award is presented to a non-British sportsperson c ...

2015 *

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

for services to rugby, 2016 New Year Honours. * Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year 2016 * All Time Super Rugby Leading Points Scorer * All Time International Rugby Leading Point Scorer List of leading rugby union test point scorers * World Rugby Hall of Fame Inductee - Number 162 (2023)

References

External links

*
Official Dan Carter YouTube Channel
* * *
Dan Carter Videos

Dan and Honor Carter expecting second child , Stuff.co.nz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Dan 1982 births Living people New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand male models Canterbury rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players USA Perpignan players Racing 92 players Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves World Rugby Awards winners World Rugby Players of the Year People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School People from Leeston New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Laureus World Sports Awards winners BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners Rugby union players from the Canterbury Region Fell family Buckland family 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players New Zealand rugby union players Kobelco Kobe Steelers players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees

Early life

Domestic career

International career

International record

Personal life

Honours

Canterbury

Crusaders

Perpignan

Racing 92

Kobelco Steelers

New Zealand

Personal accolades

See also

References

External links