IT IS DESTINED to go down in history as one of the iconic moments in any Rugby World Cup final, but as the ball left his boot, Dan Carter wasn’t sure that his monster drop goal was going to make it.
“Oh man, I was just yelling at the ball,” Carter said of the score that tilted the momentum away from Australia and nudged New Zealand towards a historic win.
I was yelling “Go, go.” I wasn’t sure if I had enough.
“I was just very relieved to see it go over.”
Ma’a Nonu’s breakaway try helped New Zealand to a 21-3 lead early in the second half, but Australia refused to quit and David Pocock and Tevita Kuridrani scored tries to bring the Wallabies back to within four points.
Enter Carter, refusing to let anyone else write the script on his 112th and final Test appearance.
He boomed over a drop goal from more than 40 metres, and then added another huge penalty to snuff out the Australian threat, before Beauden Barrett ran in an insurance try at the death.
“I’m pretty grateful to be where I am right here after what happened four years ago, to have to sit and watch my team-mates play in a final,” Carter said.
“I was desperate to play that World Cup at home and I’ve been working extremely hard the last three years.
I’m just so proud of the team and the way they performed tonight, all this year. To win back-to-back World Cups is a dream come true.
He added: “We try to do things that no other teams have done before. Sometimes we look at the things we wanted to achieve and think it’s a bit too far out.
“It’s a special feeling to be part of such a great team.”
A special feeling to watch greatness in action, too.
