New Zealand flyhalf Dan Carter should surpass Jonny Wilkinson as Test rugby’s leading points scorer this weekend as the All Blacks head to Wales in search of a win that will clinch their third Grand Slam of the home unions in six years.
Carter, who made his international debut in 2003, needs to score just three points to overtake fellow No. 10 Wilkinson’s haul of 1,178 attained in matches for England and the British and Irish Lions.
With New Zealand having blitzed England, Scotland and Ireland over the past three weekends, scoring 113 points in the process, Carter looks like claiming the record on the same day New Zealand seal a fourth end-of-year Grand Slam.
“It would be pretty cool to achieve it against the side where it all started,” Carter said.
Should Carter, who has averaged 18.75 points in his eight previous games against Wales, surpass Wilkinson’s total at the Millennium Stadium, the 28-year-old Crusaders star will have done it in seven less matches than England’s 2003 World Cup-winning flyhalf.
“To play in the All Blacks side for as long as he has, and for him to be the standout player that he is for this amount of time, is pretty special,” said Wales assistant coach Neil Jenkins, who is third on the all-time list of points scorers with 1,090. “He’s a fantastic all-round rugby player, not just his goal-kicking. I don’t think he’s got a weakness in his game. If he has, I don’t think we know about it at this moment in time.”
New Zealand’s first Grand Slam of the home nations came in 1978 and they then had to wait until 2005 for the next. The All Blacks’ third clean sweep was in 2008.
“Winning a Grand Slam is not an easy thing to do, but we’ve given ourselves a chance and it will be a nice thing to look back on in December knowing you’ve done the job,” New Zealand captain Richie McCaw said. “It would be really disappointing not to do the job this week.”
All Blacks coach Graham Henry has made six changes to the team that started the 38-18 win over Ireland last weekend, giving recalls to hooker Keven Mealamu, locks Locks Brad Thorn and Sam Whitelock, scrumhalf Jimmy Cowan, center Sonny Bill Williams and winger Isaia Toeava.
Wales have made 12 changes — nine personnel and three positional — to the team that drew 16-16 with Fiji last Friday. Ryan Jones retained his place in the side, but lost the captaincy to hooker Matthew Rees.
South Africa blew the chance of a Grand Slam by losing 21-17 to Scotland last weekend, but will look to make amends when they play England, who the Springboks have beaten the past six times the teams have met.
The world champions’ tour has turned sour, with two players — Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson — having been sent home following their positive tests for the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine.
The team started off with a narrow 23-21 win over Ireland, before scraping past Wales 29-25 and then losing to Scotland, piling the pressure on coach Peter de Villiers.
“Our public back home epitomize what it is about. It is ruthless,” Springboks assistant coach Dick Muir said. “They expect you to come over here and get the win, and if you don’t get the result, then there are going to be heads that are going to roll. You have to believe in yourself, you have got to believe in your management team and your bosses. You have got to have a shared vision and hang in there in the tough times.”
South Africa have made two changes to the team that lost at Murrayfield, bringing back utility back Ruan Pienaar in place of Francois Hougaard at scrumhalf, while No. 8 Pierre Spies comes in for Ryan Kankowski.
England are looking to finish their autumn campaign with a third successive win, after victories over Australia and Samoa. Manager Martin Johnson has selected a full-strength side, with captain Lewis Moody one of four players to return after being rested against Samoa.
France’s hopes of beating Australia in Paris — and maintaining their perfect record in November after wins over Fiji and Argentina — could hinge on whether their powerful pack can dominate the Wallabies at the scrum.
Australia’s scrum has struggled this month and a grizzled France pack, which includes recalled flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo after Julien Bonnaire was dropped to the bench, will look to add to their woes.
“As a team, they’re not very powerful in this area. They haven’t made the scrum their priority, but they are starting to,” France forwards coach Didier Retiere said. “It would be wrong for us to focus on this area because the Australians are not looking for a showdown in the scrum.”
Australia reacted to their 35-18 defeat to England a fortnight ago by defeating Italy 34-12 last weekend.
In other matches today, Scotland are on a high ahead of their match at home to Samoa following their memorable win over the Springboks, while Italy host Fiji.
Tomorrow, Ireland host Argentina, with both teams coming off defeats last weekend.
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