Rugby World Cup final: Dan Carter's fairytale finish

Dan's the man: Carter celebrates in the dressing room following the All Blacks victory. Photo / Getty Images

Daniel Carter got his fairytale ending. Well, he didn't get it as such - he earned it. He took the game as he saw fit and made sure he owned it.

It was the biggest stage he'd ever played on and it was the perfect stage for him. All of his career, when he's been fit and injury free, he's been a big-game player. There's something about his temperament that is just perfect for test football.

Since his debut in 2003, he's been at home in an All Blacks jersey. He looked born to play at this level. His debut was assured and confident and his last game was much the same.

More than that, his last game was a thing of beauty. His all-round game was superb, his game management top notch. He made sure the All Blacks played in all the right places and, even when things were getting tense - when the Wallabies were on fire in the middle of the second half - who didn't feel comfortable that Carter had something up his sleeve?

Who didn't know he was going to pull out the last few tricks he had in his pocket? It was all set up for him to close it out. But that makes it sound easy, makes it sound like all he had to do was stand behind his pack and milk the plaudits. Hardly.

What he did was carve off huge chunks of territory with his line kicking. The importance of that was huge. With one kick, the All Blacks could go from defending to attacking. That's a big deal when they were playing against an Australian side with such a good lineout drive and such good loose forwards who can win the ball - or more worryingly a penalty - pretty much anywhere on the field.

Then there was his goal kicking. He nailed the kicks that made the difference. He kept the scoreboard trundling along and the pressure kept going back on Australia. But it was in those final 10 minutes when he was Dan Carter as everyone will want to remember him.

Image 1 of 20: Fans gather as the All Blacks arrive at Twickenham Stadium for the Rugby World Cup Final. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The ball suddenly was back with the All Blacks from a Wallabies mistake and it was scrambled to the back of a ruck and then Aaron Smith made a hurried pass. Carter, cool as you like, had traffic all around him and could barely see the posts which were a good 40m away. But without hesitation, he slipped onto his left foot and snapped over a dropped goal that pushed the All Blacks back out to a seven-point lead.

"I was just yelling at the ball, I was yelling go go. I wasn't sure if I had enough and yeah just very relieved to see it go over," Carter said after the final.

That was a big moment. It restored some kind of comfort and then came his biggest play of all.

The All Blacks had a penalty just inside the Wallabies half. It was at the limit of Carter's range but he wanted it. He wanted to land that killer blow. And so he did.

He took his time, went through his routine like always and then struck the ball perfectly. It was always going over. It had the legs, just. It had the distance and it was then, with the All Blacks 10 points ahead and with seven minutes left, that a nation could believe they were going to win.