Dan Carter has had surgery on his groin injury and it's expected he will be fully recovered in 12 weeks.
The All Blacks first five-eighths injured his left adductor longus tendon while training on October 1, the day before the last pool game against Canada, and was invalided out of the World Cup. He had surgery in Melbourne on Monday and flew back to Auckland on Wednesday.
Carter said the surgery to repair the tendon "went well'' and he will now be concentrating on his rehabilitation.
The graduated rehabilitation programme will involve re-establishing normal walking with strengthening exercises, with a view to progressing onto running and kicking over an eight-week period. He hopes to be fully recovered by about the 12-week mark.