Former All Black Dan Carter. Picture / Babiche Martens
All Blacks great Dan Carter’s first live solo show to promote his new book has been cancelled due to a scheduling clash.
The event, The Art of Winning with Dan Carter, was scheduled for the first week of August at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre.
But last week organisers took to Auckland Live to apologise, saying they were “saddened at the cancellation of this event in celebration of Dan Carter’s latest work”.
”We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and thank you for your support.”
All ticket holders would receive an automatic refund.
Days before the cancellation, 41-year-old Carter gave a shout-out on his Instagram story about the event, with a link to buy tickets. The event was billed as Carter for the first time live on stage, distilling his two decades at the frontiers of high performance into his “perfect 10” lessons on leadership, purpose and potential.
Carter was to deliver hard-learned truths on why embracing your past can be every bit as important as looking towards your future, why managing the mental side of performance eclipses the physical and why confidence and self-belief are nothing without humility and your past can be every bit as important a beginner’s mindset.
The Unicef ambassador was going to share insights from conversations with those who have inspired his own leadership journey, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, former Saatchi & Saatchi chief executive Kevin Roberts and All Blacks mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka.
The event was timed to come out two weeks after Carter’s latest book, also called The Art of Winning, and the two were to complement each other.
Carter’s agent, Dean Hegan, told Spy they were trying to find another date but were encountering problems in finding a suitable time, with Carter heading to France in September with Rugby World Cup commitments.
Hegan said the reason for the cancellation was a scheduling clash and at this stage, they have not rescheduled.
Carter, wife Honor and their eldest two boys, Marco and Fox, lived in Paris from 2015 to 2018, while he played for Racing 92. In their time there the couple rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous and it is a sure bet when Carter is back in the City of Lights, he will be one of the most in-demand former rugby greats on the RWC socialising and commentary circuit.
Last Thursday, Carter did take to the stage live and reunited with former team-mate Richie McCaw and a panel including Dame Sophie Pascoe and Dame Valerie Adams for the Youth Leadership Day at the Christchurch Town Hall.
Carter told his Instagram followers he was inspired to see how engaged the young tamariki were.
“The @isportnz Foundation does so much great work to empower young people from all circumstances through access to sports and positive role models. Such a proud moment 14 years on from launching the foundation alongside Richie McCaw and Ali Williams, we get to see the impact we are having towards inspiring the next generation of leaders. Thank you to everyone involved.”