Carter: Excited ahead of World Cup
New Zealand fly-half Dan Carter insists that the expectations of an entire nation will have a positive effect on the All Blacks during the World Cup.
The host nation's squad have been travelling the country ahead of the tournament, which they begin with a clash against Tonga on September 9.
Carter is excited to be able to fully focus on the World Cup and admits that the All Blacks' may have been slightly distracted in the lead up to the event.
"There has been a real sense of excitement since returning into camp," Carter said after joining up with his team-mates in Auckland.
"Obviously we have got the Tri-Nations out of the way and the Super Rugby competition because I'm sure during those competitions at the back of a lot of guys minds was the World Cup.
"So to have that behind us now and concentrating solely on this World Cup is really exciting and to see all the support we have had around the country has been fantastic. That really lifts the guys."
Favourites
"Every time you put on that All Black jersey there is always pressures and expectation from the people here in New Zealand."
Dan Carter Quotes of the week
New Zealand, who are the odds-on favourites to lift the Webb Ellis Cup, last won the World Cup in 1987 and have suffered from a string of disappointing exits in recent editions.
Carter knows that the pressure to perform on home soil will be immense but the 29-year-old says the squad will be able to handle the expectation.
"Every time you put on that All Black jersey there is always pressures and expectation from the people here in New Zealand," Carter added.
"Having something so special as the rugby World Cup here in New Zealand does add to the pressure and expectation and the fact we haven't won for so long adds to that but if anything the guys are more excited than worried about that."
Carter also stressed the importance of not overlooking New Zealand's opponents in Pool A, which include France, their conquerors from four years ago.
He said: "The first couple of days has been very general, welcoming the guys, setting the standards and foundations for the next few weeks so the next day or two that's when we really start to focus on our first game, we can't look too far ahead.
"Obviously we have Tonga first up which is an exciting challenge for us and now we start to narrow our focus a lot towards that game in the next day or two."
Source: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12040_7150394,00.html
0 comments:
Post a Comment