The Lions changed my life in ’05 and now new stars will be born

TWO things struck Dan Carter when he woke up the morning after whitewashing the Lions in 2005. First came the hangover from a night of wild celebrations — drinking, dancing and singing — in Auckland’s most famous Irish pub. Then came the bombardment of emails and phone calls from companies desperate to be associated with sport’s overnight idol.

‘The Lions can define your career,’ said Carter. ‘It was life-changing for me. That second Test really kick-started my All Blacks journey. Me and Ma’a Nonu used to have a competition to see who got the highest number of text messages after a game. We used it as a bit of a barometer to see how well we’d played. Suddenly my phone was going absolutely crazy.

‘I was surrounded by international media asking me about this “perfect match” I’d just played. I was young, naive and it was huge. Before that, I was a 23-year-old guy that most rugby people had never heard of. It’s even bigger now. I’m sure a couple of superstars will be born over the next month or so.’

Carter had conquered rugby and the adulation rolled in with headlines of, ‘Dan the Man. The Lion Tamer. The Perfect 10.’

He scored 33 points to clinch the series with a game to spare — rounding off a week dominated by the frenzy of Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu’s spear tackle on Brian O’Driscoll.

‘I missed the final Test because of injury but we ended up in Danny Doolans bar down in the harbour,’ he said.

‘Some of the guys drank more than others and unsurprisingly it was full of Irish fans. They were drowning their sorrows but none of them mentioned O’Driscoll.’

The Irishman had been taken out in the first minute of the first Test. Tour over.

The debate still continues: was it a premeditated attack that almost broke the captain’s neck or an innocent mistake?

‘It was quite bizarre,’ said Carter. ‘After the game all the talk was about this tackle on Brian O’Driscoll. No one was talking about the game itself. Tana has so much mana — a special sort of Maori power — in New Zealand and he was always the guy who looked out for the team.

‘Suddenly he was being heavily criticised and it felt like a personal attack on our captain. It was hard to escape and it struck us deep down. We felt like it was our responsibility to protect him and the best way to do that was to play well in the second Test. It became a game for our fearless captain.’

Umaga has switched from pitch to pitchside and will coach the Blues against the Lions on Wednesday. The Auckland side will be boosted by a handful of All Black stars and footage of the 2005 series has been beamed across local bars and pubs throughout the week.

‘Some of the franchise players probably know they’ll never play for the All Blacks so it’s an amazing opportunity for them,’ said Carter. ‘They’ll want to rip into it, show everyone what they’re capable of and do everything they can to smash the Lions.

‘These games are going to be just below Test match intensity. That’s my concern for the Lions. It’s such a gruelling schedule that it’s going to be hard to manage. They could be b ****** d by the time they reach the first Test but I’m sure Warren Gatland will have a plan.’

They will face off at Eden Park, where the All Blacks are unbeaten since 1994 — so long ago that head coach Steve Hansen was still working as a police officer.

And with two out of the three Tests played there, the Lions must end the record that has spanned more than two decades.

Carter played his part but, now he is detached from the environment, what does he put their cloak of invincibility down to?

‘It’s the ultimate question,’ he said. ‘I was an All Black for over a decade and I still don’t know the answer. For me, there’s something very special about this small, little country down the bottom of the world that battles well above its weight. It’s an obsession. A religion. It’s in our blood.

‘You live and breathe it. The public don’t believe the All Blacks can lose, ever. There’s pressure and expectation that the All Blacks never lose and you learn to deal with that.

‘We talk about this black jersey with the silver fern on the heart. It makes you feel super-human. It’s like a coat of armour.

‘We wanted to be the most dominant side in the history of world rugby but there’s still a big emphasis on humility. When everyone starts pumping you up or saying you’ve made it, you’ve got to keep your feet on the ground. If you start acting differently, stop clearing up your rubbish, you won’t last.

‘In 2005 we were given these special books before the series. They had a lot about the history of the All Blacks — the 1905 originals, the 1924 invincibles — but the end of the book was blank and it was up to you to add to it.

‘This Lions series was your chance to add to what had gone before you.

‘I always wrote three goals in it before each Test and took a bit of grass from the captain’s run and stuck that beside them. It was a pretty powerful weapon. It was about leaving your own legacy.’

The book is now gathering dust at Carter’s home in Auckland. Twelve years on, it is time for a new star to be born.