INTERVIEW DAN CARTER: GAVIN CUMMISKEYmeets the New Zealand outhalf who is making the most of his injury-enforced lay-off

WORST-CASE scenario: Daniel Carter, the poster boy not only of the All Blacks and the Adidas brand but New Zealand as a nation, goes on a seven-month sabbatical to Perpignan only to suffer a ruptured achilles tendon in his fifth game.

It means the All Blacks will be lucky to have him back in harness, and form, by the November tour. New Zealand have been forced to contemplate life after arguably their greatest ever player.

It also means at just 27 years old Dan Carter, the man, got to experience life as a mortal. For the past three months the guy raised in Southbridge, just outside Christchurch, was afforded some time in the shade.

“I’d been a part of the All Black and Crusader set-ups for six years. They are pretty draining environments. I got a lot of satisfaction but I just needed a change. The six months have been perfect. Half the reason for coming has been the change in lifestyle. A different rugby competition to test myself up against.

“Five games in and I get injured. That was extremely tough but I still have the chance of living over here. I know it sounds bad but the only way to get away from the spotlight is an injury like this so you have to turn things around and look positively, and I’m doing that and making the most of this forced break, which no one likes to do, but it has been good for me.

“I will have a real desire when I come back and a lot of goals that I want to achieve. It’s going to be tough at first having not played for so long but I really want to be the player I was maybe a couple of seasons ago and keep improving. There will be a lot of hard work but I’m prepared to make that sacrifice.”

For now he is just another Kiwi wandering around Europe. The cities of Barcelona or Paris barely blinked at his weekend sojourns. They have their own obsessions and gods, like Lionel Messi.

Grafton Street did pause for a few minutes yesterday as the greatest outhalf on the planet posed for a photo-shoot engineered by Irish entrepreneur Philip McLoughlin who was launching his mcsport.ie website.

We noticed the stereotypical Leinster fan may be getting too big for their collective boots before any silverware is landed as a few jocks stood off, camera phones a-clicking, instead of seeking an autograph.

Either way, rugby waits for no man. Not even the Lion-tamer. He was just 23 when he destroyed Clive Woodward’s British and Irish Lions in the 2005 second Test, exposing Jonny Wilkinson as a spent force. Thirty-three points in one sitting.

His last match was on January 31st with the great Juan Martin Hernandez in direct opposition for Stade Francais. As the game neared its 13-all conclusion, Carter allowed everyone dream of Heineken Cup rugby touching new heights under his unerring control, only for such notions to be shattered by a stinging dose of reality.

Leinster and Munster took up the mantle last Saturday. Carter watched the quelling of Munster fire from his Perpignan base.

“Like the majority of people I thought Munster, the way they performed in the quarter-final should win.

“The way Leinster played was phenomenal. It was an amazing match. They played out of their skins and didn’t give Munster a chance.

“(Brian) O’Driscoll and the leaders did well but just the way their pack played, you could see right from the first kick-off, up in the air: boom – that they were there to play.”

We’re talking about Rocky Elsom, right?

“Yeah, I’ve come up against him a few times. Great player.”

Is he rated at the same level in the Tri-Nations as the status he has attained up here?

“As an opponent I know he is has a lot of respect in New Zealand. He is a very physical player. You are always going to get 110 per cent. He is one of those players that always gets so involved in the rucks and mauls. He is always where the action is. That’s what makes him such a valuable player.”

We asked about the shortage of potential Lions Test outhalves and how Ian McGeechan was unable to unearth a third specimen to heap pressure on veterans Stephen Jones and Ronan O’Gara.

“They both know how to win games. They both showed that in Cardiff. I just don’t think anyone else put their hand up to take that third spot, which is a bit of a shame.”

The Lions tour was an abject failure in 2005 but can four nations gel in such a short space of time ahead of the of South Africa tour?

“I’m really hopeful they can. There was a lot going on around the last Lions series. A huge squad, things like that. I’m confident they have a good side and can pull it together. I loved the Lions tour. Being part of that series was amazing. You get one chance to experience something like that in your career. That focused us.”

The ELV’s and ping-pong rugby in particular?

“I’m not really too fussed about it. It has changed the game a little bit. As a fly-half you have a bit more time. I don’t really get into the politics side of the game.”

And then he was gone. Off to speak to Exposé about God knows what. The spotlight rarely dims.