Dan Carter has revealed how a conversation with halfback Aaron Smith prior to the World Cup gave him the idea to kick his first conversion with his right foot in the dying stages of the tournament final victory over Australia.
Late in the match, Beauden Barrett's runaway try put theresult beyond doubt, and when Carter was handed the kicking tee from non-playing squad member Liam Messam, he was reminded of his of his desire to kick a solitary goal off his right boot.
The 33-year-old sharpshooter was wary of disrespecting the Wallabies but couldn't resist quickly lining the kick up and slotting it between the uprights off his right foot.
"It took me back to my childhood where dad would teach me to kick with both feet. I used to practice conversions off my right and my left," Carter told The Australian yesterday.
"It was quite funny because prior to the start of the World Cup I was having a conversation with (All Blacks halfback) Aaron Smith and he asked me if I had ever kicked a conversion with my right foot. I said no, but funny you mention it because I would love to kick at least one in a test match.
"He was like, 'imagine if we are ahead by more than a try in the World Cup final, it's your last kick in a Test match', and we kind of laughed and joked, yeah, that would be great.
"As soon as Liam said, 'why don't you do it off your right' it just brought back all those memories of childhood, the conversation with Aaron, and I thought bugger it, I'll do it. He said 'no, no, no you can't'. I took the kick really quick hoping no one would notice.
The kick was Carter's farewell act in the black jersey, ahead of his move to join Paris-based side Racing Metro next week on a lucrative deal reportedly worth about $3 million a season.
