Former British and Irish Lions coach Clive Woodward has described New Zealand’s Dan Carter as the best attacking quantity 10 he has seen – however nonetheless charges Jonny Wilkinson forward of him as probably the most full flyhalf.
Two-time Rugby World Cup winner Carter introduced his retirement from skilled rugby on Saturday, ending as the best level scorer in take a look at rugby historical past with 1,598 – greater than 350 away from England’s Wilkinson.
Woodward, who coached England to the 2003 Rugby World Cup title, stated he had usually been requested who was a greater quantity 10 – Carter or Wilkinson.
“It is nearly an unimaginable alternative. They had been, by a ways, the 2 pre-eminent fly-halves of their period – each by the way pure left-footers,” Woodward wrote in a column for the Day by day Mail.
“I might rating Jonny and Dan about equal as the perfect goalkickers we’ve seen, Dan was the perfect attacking 10 I ever noticed whereas Jonny was far and away the perfect defensive 10 I ever witnessed.
“If I used to be pressured right into a nook I might go along with Jonny. Simply. I used to be fortunate sufficient to teach him for six years and knew his sport intimately. With Dan I simply admired from afar.”
Woodward led the Lions on the tour of New Zealand in 2005 the place he stated Carter introduced himself as a “actually world class expertise”.
Within the second take a look at, Carter scored two tries, 4 conversions and 5 penalties to seal the sequence for the All Blacks.
“His 33 factors within the second take a look at at Wellington, together with two good tries, was off the Richter scale and presumably the perfect particular person efficiency I’ve ever witnessed at take a look at stage. The Excellent 10,” Woodward stated.
