All Blacks: Carter regrets premature departure

Dan Carter's departure had disastrous consequences during the All Blacks-Wallabies match. Photo / Getty Images

As a glum Stephen Donald was shielded inside the All Blacks enclave at Hong Kong Stadium, Daniel Carter would not absolve himself from blame in the aftermath of a record-ending 26-24 Bledisloe Cup rugby loss to the Wallabies.

Donald's catastrophic final quarter cameo will haunt the Waikato first five-eighth after the Wallabies staged an All Black-style recovery to avenge last month's heartbreaking one-point loss in Sydney with a 26-24 win that both boosted Australian morale and sabotaged New Zealand's bid to surpass Lithuania's world record winning sequence of 18 tests on their five-match tour.

The All Blacks appeared capable of securing a 16th victory - and 11th straight against the Wallabies - but in a role reversal from game three at ANZ Stadium on September 11 it was the Wallabies who played with guile and gumption when the contest was in the balance.

New Zealand had turned a 12-point deficit into a 24-12 lead when Carter, in his comeback from ankle surgery, departed as scheduled on the hour - a strategy that had disastrous consequences.

The playmaker had barely sat down before Drew Mitchell profited from as defensive lapse by replacement wing Isaia Toeava before Donald turned villain.

His unsatisfactory kicking display featured a close-range penalty miss that could have put the All Blacks eight points clear with just four minutes remaining.

Worse was to follow when a precious All Blacks turnover was booted to Wallabies fullback Kurtley Beale instead of into touch - the catalyst for James O'Connor's match-winning converted try after the fulltime siren.

Wary of extending himself after his lay-off, Carter consulted medical staff at halftime and resolved to play the third quarter before handing over to Donald, in hindsight a decision he regrets.

"I guess looking back I felt pretty good out there and I was probably a little bit selfish. I probably could have played the full 80," he admitted.

All Blacks head coach Graham Henry defended the decision to sub Carter at the pre-ordained time.

"He was coming back from a reasonably major operation and we didn't want to risk injuring him badly going into the future," he said.

"I think it was a good decision, we've got to make sure we look after people."

Carter expressed solidarity with Donald after his latest understudy experienced a night to forget, noting the Wallabies might still have had time to mount an attack from a lineout had Donald found touch with 90 seconds remaining.

"He's pretty gutted but obviously we're in this as a team, you never blame anyone for things like that. We shouldn't have been in that position."

The post-mortem into the first All Blacks defeat since the Springboks 32-29 victory at Hamilton in September last year continues today when they board a flight for London and the Grand Slam leg of their journey.

A priority ahead of Sunday's (NZT) test with England at Twickenham will be sharpening their accuracy after kick-off.

In a mirror image of Bledisloe III, the All Blacks started poorly as flawed option taking and ball security contributed to a 12-0 Wallabies lead and then, for the first time this season, they were unable to protect their own advantage as the clock wound down.

Meanwhile, although disappointed to drop a rare test to the Wallabies Carter doubted the setback would have implications when the team take on the Home Unions and Ireland.

"You never want to lose and we're pretty gutted but from my experience you learn a lot more from losses," he said.

"We'll bounce back, I'm confident of that."

Loose forward Jerome Kaino was also in a bullish mood.

"The sign of a good team is how they get back up after a loss," the blindside flanker said.

"We've got people in the team to pick everyone up and get back on the horse."

- NZPA