Rugby World Cup: New Zealand rocked by Dan Carter injury
Published:New Zealand’s Dan Carter has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup with a groin injury – dashing their hopes of winning the title on home soil.
The All Blacks talisman – who is the all-time leading international points scorer – broke down during kicking practice.
He then went to hospital for a scan where it was revealed he had torn his adductor longus tendon in his left groin.
All Blacks team doctor Deb Robinson said: “The scan confirmed our worst fears.
“The tendon has been torn which means he’s out of the tournament.”
It’s a bitter blow for Graham Henry and his side and makes their task of winning a second World Cup title infinitely more difficult.
Carter is irreplaceable and he will be a huge loss for the All Blacks, however, they should still have more than enough to comfortably see off Argentina in their quarter final clash.
New Zealand currently head into the game as 1/66 favourites and it’s hard to see anything other than a convincing win for the host nation.
It’s when they get beyond that stage that the problems start as they will then face a semi final clash against either Australia or South Africa.
With New Zealand’s poor record in the latter stages of the World Cup, backing them to exit at the semi final stage against one of their fellow Tri Nations competitors could be well worth a punt at 11/5.
