Carter sees England as North's biggest threat

RUGBY:NEW ZEALAND outhalf Dan Carter believes England will be the Northern Hemisphere's biggest threat to the All Blacks' Rugby World Cup title ambitions.

Carter was in the air flying to London for the Crusaders’ Super Rugby clash with the Sharks at Twickenham this Sunday when England’s Grand Slam bid was crushed by Ireland in Dublin.

But Martin Johnson’s men were still crowned Six Nations champions and Carter has been impressed by their improvements over the last year.

During that time, England have beaten Australia in Sydney and by a record margin at Twickenham, overcome Wales in Cardiff for the first time since 2003 and ended an eight-year title drought.

Carter knows how dangerous France can be – he is still haunted by the memory of New Zealand’s quarter-final defeat in 2007 – but he backed England to pose the biggest threat.

“I definitely think the form team won the Six Nations,” Carter said. “I think they’ve had a fantastic 12-18 months with what they achieved over in Australia last year and then in November they played good rugby and continued to build from there.

“They played some fantastic footy (in the Six Nations) and deserved to win. It stands them in good stead for the World Cup later in the year.

“Going on the last 12 months, I’d say it would be England (who will be the most dangerous European nation).

“The French are always very unpredictable and you can never rule them out out, as I know first hand.

“But England have built a great squad, have real depth there, have some exciting talent.”

Carter and his star-studded Crusaders team-mates are in London for the first Super Rugby match ever to be played outside of the SANZAR countries.

The Crusaders were forced to look for an alternative venue after their home ground, the AMI Stadium, was damaged in February’s earthquake.

At least 166 people died in the disaster and Christchurch, a city steeped in rugby history, has been forced to hand back all seven World Cup matches due to be staged there.

“I dodged a bullet, really,” said Carter, reflecting on the day the earthquake hit.

“There was a bit of damage to my house but nothing compared to what some people have gone through, where they’ve lost family and friends.

“I was in the changing room after training and it was a pretty fierce shake. I managed to get outside with a couple of team-mates.

“I didn’t really know the extent of it until I jumped in my car, driving home and that’s when I really understood that this one was so much different with all the aftershocks.

“People were running out of their homes, people crying. Just water and liquefaction everywhere on the roads. A board member at the Crusaders was killed in the earthquake which is very sad for the franchise.

“When something like this happens you can often feel quite useless, you want to give back and help.

“I have found the best way to do that is by doing what I do and that’s playing rugby, giving people the chance to support their team again and take their mind off what’s going on back home and put some smiles back on people’s faces.

“It’s good to come over here and hopefully generate some money for people who are going through some tough times.”

The responsibility Carter feels towards representing the Christchurch community means any thoughts of a move to a European club after the World Cup have been shelved for now.

Carter, who played for Perpignan in 2009, has received approaches from European clubs.

“I’ve pretty much put things on hold a little bit. I’m in no rush to make that decision,” Carter said.

“I’ve been worrying about making things okay in my back yard first rather than making plans about my future after this year.”