All Blacks great Dan Carter has been presented with the International Rugby Players Association Special Merit Award on the eve of the Women’s Rugby World Cup final in London.
Carter has been honoured at a World Rugby Awards presentation for philanthropic work since retiring in 2021.
“It’s a huge privilegeto receive the International Rugby Player Association Special Merit Award. It’s not why I do what I do to receive awards like this, but I guess it’s a combination of the hard work and dedication that I put in on the rugby field, as a professional rugby player, but also since my transition out of the game, my willingness to want to give back to people through philanthropic work, it really is a huge honour,” said Carter at the Global Women’s Rugby Summit at London’s Science Museum.
Since retiring, Carter has worked with International Rugby Players Association to develop the Global Rugby Players Foundation, empowering players as they retire and helping them build their lives beyond the game. Through his DC10 Fund, he has also raised more than $2 million in support of the most vulnerable children across the Pacific region.
“I feel so grateful that rugby has given me so much, so I want to use sport and rugby to be able to give back to people. Whether that’s [helping] under-privileged children with the work I do for the DC10 fund in partnership with Unicef or my iSport Foundation, or giving back to professional rugby players and helping provide a support network for them as they transition out of the game we all love through the Global Rugby Players Foundation. It’s more of a drive and motivation to want to give back because rugby has given me so much,” Carter said.
“The [Global Players Rugby] foundation is hugely driven to help professional rugby players – men’s, women’s, fifteens, sevens – to go on and be the best versions of themselves beyond the game and not just think that their best days are behind them when they do finish... I’m really proud of setting it up alongside some incredible other founders and a great team. Having the support of World Rugby and the International Rugby Players Association is really important as well. It really means a lot to me.”
Other recent winners of the International Rugby Players Association Special Merit Award include Vickii Cornborough (England), John Smit and Bryan Habana (South Africa), Jamie Heaslip (Ireland), Stephen Moore (Australia) and DJ Forbes (New Zealand).
