

Richie McCaw may have been the most famous tee boy in test history last weekend, but he was also one of the worst according to All Blacks first five Dan Carter.

As New Zealand rugby fans went into a spin about a pending repeat Cardiff quarterfinal against France, a relaxed Carter gave a humorous recount of his captain's mishaps during the All Blacks final pool match against Tonga.

"He was pretty poor at it to be honest. He dropped the tee a couple of times. Then I asked him to tell me a joke as well and he couldn't think of a joke," Carter said. "He was actually squashing my tee and he didn't know. What else did he do wrong? He started talking rugby before I was kicking."

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Carter's anecdotes fitted with what fans saw in Newcastle where McCaw also dropped his water bottle and the radio headset he was carrying to communicate with team management.

On a more positive note, the All Blacks openside is set to return to the job he's best at after sitting out the last match as a precaution after bruising his hip against Georgia."I'm pretty keen to get him back in the team rather than running the water on," Carter said. "That's probably the only thing he can't do to be honest. He's a bit of a Superman, but running the tee is not one of his specialties."

Aside from being a refreshing break from the serious tone that has suddenly taken hold ahead of the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup, Carter's demeanour bodes well for the All Blacks.

He has clearly taken plenty of confidence out of his assured performance against Tonga where, despite McCaw's failings, he kicked six of seven shots at goal.

Being relaxed has become part of Carter's mantra this year, looking to put several years of injuries behind him as his test career draws to a close.

"It's been a big focus for me this year after having a couple of years of frustration with my body and the fact that I know this is my last crack at it, it's all about enjoyment.

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"That's why I play the game and sometimes you can forget about that when you are going through tough periods with injury or form or whatever.

"It's something that's just helped me enjoying each moment. That's why I play the game is for the love of it. It's important you are focused on the game, but you can have that enjoyment."

Most first fives will attest that they play and kick best when they're relaxed. Stress tends to be an inhibitor and a distraction whereas humour blocks out the importance of the occasion and allows more focus on process than outcome.

The All Blacks will all face the challenge of trying not to get too tense during their quarterfinal against France, while New Zealand fans in the crowd are sure to be tense as they cast their minds back to the 2007 quarterfinal at the same venue.

But Carter was adamant it wouldn't be part of his thinking.

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"It's not something we've talked about, or even personally I haven't thought much about. What is it about three players [left] who were out on the field in that game? It's a new team. We're looking forward, not in the past. We've moved on from that and are more excited about this challenge."

Carter accepted it was something the public and media would talk about, but said the team didn't see it as relevant.

"It's not something we've talked about or is daunting… We've played so much rugby since then. You could probably say the same that the French might be pretty keen to play us after what happened four years ago [when they lost to us in the final]."