Dan Carter was in Dublin last week to promote the Foroige Youth Citizenship Awards in association with Aldi.
Balls.ie had the chance to speak with him, and he explained that he could have played in Ireland:
There was an opportunity after school to come and play in Ireland, I looked at it but probably made the right decision to pursue my All Black career, because it was a pretty good one.
Hell of an understatement. The club Carter almost joined was Instonians in Belfast, and he explained how it almost came about:
My ex-coach at home coached over here, and had a few contacts. They were looking for a little eighteen year old looking to explore the world, but after some advice from coaches I decided to stay.
It appears Carter is responsible for the greatest 'what might have been' in Irish sport. The fact that Carter chose New Zealand proved to be good news for the international prospects of Ronan O'Gara. O'Gara is now Carter's coach at Racing 92, and we asked him if O'Gara had claimed credit for teaching him all he knew:
No, not yet! No, he's a great guy. For my arch rival to be coaching me is great. It's nice to get to know the guy outside of rugby, he's a top bloke. He is new to his coaching career, and has a bright fuiture ahead of him. He has amazing passion and knowledge of the game, and he's doing great things for the club.
The world is his oyster. He's got all the fundamentals to be a great coach. He's still young and still learning a lot, so I guess only time will tell.
In contrast to O'Gara, Joe Schmidt's coaching credentials are far more established. With Ireland now reacquainting themselves with defeat on a regular basis, those credentials are under more scrutiny from the Irish media than ever before. But what of Schmidt's reputation in his native New Zealand?
He is highly respected as a top coach. The success he had with Ireland - winning Six Nations back to back - is a highly respected achievement, it's not an easy thing to do. They had a setback with the World Cup, they were unlucky with injuries to some key players. They are now in a bit of development, but I'm sure they'll bounce back.
We hope Carter is right about that as well, because let's face it, he was right to choose New Zealand over Ireland.
Listen to the interview in full below:
