All Blacks flyhalf Daniel Carter's final Super Rugby season began with a rocky start as the 32-year-old suffered another leg injury in the Crusaders' surprise 20-10 loss to the Melbourne Rebels on Friday.
Carter, who has also already said he will leave New Zealand rugby after the conclusion of this year's World Cup to take up a three-year contract with France's Racing Metro, allayed any early jitters about the All Blacks' world title defence. "I got a whack in the side of the leg, similar to a spot that I got it last year. It was just a knee and gave me a bit of a dead leg," Carter told reporters. "I'm sure it's nothing serious."
Carter has had a tumultuous run with injuries since a torn muscle in his groin ruled him out of the 2011 World Cup and he barely played at all last year due to a sabbatical and then a broken leg. While he went into contact willingly and made several tackles on Friday, he appeared to still be shaking out the rust that blighted his end-of-season tour with the All Blacks last year.
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The 102-test veteran said he had suffered the injury "in contact" and not in about the 56th minute when he stretched for a high wayward pass and shanked his clearing kick. Carter was visibly hobbling and spoke to team doctor Deb Robinson at length but continued to play before he went off in the 74th minute.
"I thought it was just a wee knee to the leg and sometimes with those dead legs you can run them off. I gave it a good 10 minutes but felt like a bit of a liability out there so came off in the last 10," said Carters. Carter's inability to operate at full speed cost his side a try to Nick Stirzaker when the flyhalf made a poor kick and the scrumhalf pounced on the ball and sprinted 45 metres to give his side a 20-10 lead with about 15 minutes remaining.
Rebels' fullback Mike Harris added 10 points from the boot for the visitors, while massive lock Lopeti Timani scored a first half try.
Carter slotted one penalty and converted hooker Ben Funnell's try but was eventually replaced. His injury overshadowed a scratchy performance from the seven-times champions who had numerous errors in accuracy, handling and decision-making that left many of the 13,518 crowd frustrated.
