RICHES TO RAGS
A somewhat ashen-faced, grim-looking Darren Shand is at the door of the Intercontinental Hotel in Wellington on the morning of October 1, 2011.
The long-serving All Blacks manager tried to make light of the situation by asking a few journalists if they have their boots and can they play first-five.
Shand’s attempts at black humour can’t hide his real mood which is reflective of the wider All Blacks camp.
He’s shaken, struggling for confidence because the worst thing has happened to their World Cup campaign. The one player they couldn’t afford to be injured is injured.
That’s why the journalists are funneling into the hotel where the All Blacks are staying. They have been summoned to an emergency press conference on the morning of the All Blacks final pool match against Canada.
Everyone kind of knows what has happened but official confirmation that Daniel Carter has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament is yet to be made.
When coach Graham Henry reveals that Carter has indeed been ruled out for months due to a ripped groin, there isn’t a human to be found who doesn’t think the All Blacks have become unbelievably vulnerable.
From looking like the favourites-elect two weeks earlier when they had destroyed France at Eden Park with Carter majestically pulling all the strings, it was suddenly hard to conceive of the All Blacks still being the same team.
One injury changed everything as the All Blacks didn’t have another first-five remotely like Carter in their midst.
As much as they had tried over the last eight years to build depth in the No 10 jersey,
