When New Zealand head back home today, they will be leaving behind one of their own, which history has shown they do not like to do.

Dan Carter will not return to Christchurch to enjoy a southern- hemisphere summer of beaches, barbecues and catching up with old friends. Instead the 26-year-old flyhalf will head for the south of France to begin his European sabbatical worth a reported à1-million (about R12,7-million) for six months.

The decision to sample the thrall of Gaul with Perpignan has not been prompted solely by the lure of adding to his bank balance. Like the majority of his compatriots he is keen to enjoy an “OE”, an overseas experience. As a professional rugby player he has not yet been afforded that chance.

Rather than merely see the inside of yet another hotel, training ground or stadium, Carter has the opportunity to imbibe French culture in its entirety. Haute couture will be high on his agenda. And he will have Honor Dillon, his girlfriend and a former New Zealand hockey international, to keep him company.

As well as modelling underpants for Jockey, Carter, acknowledged as the world’s supreme flyhalf, loves clothes. So much so that he has established a chain of shops named GAS with branches in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. “His passion for fashion can be brought out in France,” Dean Hegan, his commercial agent from Essentially Group, said. “He has the franchise for New Zealand and Australia for GAS and wants to roll out the format. He regularly goes on buying trips to Hong Kong to check out what’s new. He is a smart businessman. Going to France will open his outlook while also allowing him to be contracted to the NZRFU and wear the All Blacks jersey. He gets the best of both worlds.”

Whether Graham Henry would agree is a different matter. But it is an exception that the All Blacks coach was prepared to make given the option of losing Carter altogether, as he has several other big names since last year’s World Cup. He knows that the flyhalf is worth his weight in gold. By his own standards Carter has been playing within himself on this tour. Only one trademark break against Ireland has set the pulses racing and his goal kicking has not been as precise as he would have liked. But his game management has been exemplary and his mere presence prompts palpitations in opposition defences. He has scored 120 points in his six starts against the English, while England were mustering 86 between them.

Carter will join up with Perpignan for the club’s Heineken Cup pool tie against Leicester on Saturday but will not play. Instead he will be getting to know his new teammates before his debut in southern France the next weekend.

The All Blacks’ success this year is astonishing. “I’m definitely surprised at how well the team has coped with the players moving overseas,” Carter said. “For a new-look side it has been great. We had our backs against the wall with two losses early on in the Tri-Nations but we fought back and won the title, which was superb. Losing so many players was a little bit daunting but there was excitement over the guys who were coming through.”

All of New Zealand will be thankful that Carter will be saying only au revoir rather than a permanent goodbye. — ©The Times News Service, London

Mark Souster

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