All Blacks: I want to be best player out there - Dan

Carter is aiming for a top performance against Scotland in his return to test rugby. Photo / Getty Images

Confident Carter sets his sights high as he prepares for comeback to test rugby

Dan Carter has been showing the form of old in training in Scotland's capital this week - a week notable for its gloriously mild weather despite the oncoming winter.

And the man himself is similarly defiant against the march of time and frequent injury, saying he doesn't want to coast through his first test start in 12 months, he wants to be the best on the pitch.

"I've had a couple of good weeks in the environment," he said. "I'm not going to be happy just to get through 60 to 80 minutes.

"Every time I put on the black jersey I want to be one of the best players out there, if not the best player out there, and that's what I'm going to be striving to do this weekend - just doing whatever I can to help the All Blacks get the win and the performance they'll be satisfied with.

"Getting through it isn't enough for me, I want to walk off that pitch happy with my performance."

For Carter, 32, getting to this point has taken a lot of perseverance and hard work.

Feted before stepping on to the Twickenham pitch almost exactly a year ago on the occasion of his 100th test, he soon limped off with a torn Achilles tendon, a desperately disappointing moment after all the injury problems he had been through.

For the next six months he got away from the game, a sabbatical giving his mind and body a rest, and when he returned for the Crusaders he was energised, engaged, and in form, until yet another leg injury, this time a fractured fibula from a collision during the Super Rugby final defeat to the Waratahs in Sydney in August.

Half a game for Canterbury in this year's ITM Cup followed, as did more problems - this time nerve damage in the right leg he had injured.

But, after coming through 30 minutes for the All Blacks against the USA in Chicago and a good fortnight of preparation on the training field, he is ready to wear the black No 10 jersey again.

He is on the brink once more, the doubts hopefully banished.

"There's been a lot of frustration throughout the year," he said. "There has been doubt that has crept in during certain periods but once you get over that and get back to your plan and the goals you're working towards you are a lot more focused on what needs to be done.

"For me to get back in this position where I'm able to play for the All Blacks is a great challenge for me but it's just a start. I'm not finished or happy with where I'm at, it's just an opportunity to continue to grow.

"[You have] all sorts of doubts with your body when you've had injuries like I've had," he said. "In your darkest times you question whether you'll get a chance to put the jersey on again but it's not a major one. It's [about] my body and things like that. It's normally straight after the injury but you soon get out of that hole.

"There's a lot of excitement about starting this weekend. It has been almost 12 months since I started for the All Blacks. I've talked a lot about what the jersey means to me and to have another opportunity to put on the No 10 jersey is exciting.

"I've thoroughly enjoyed this week; I've had to work hard to get here and I want to make the most of the opportunity."

Carter, with his 101 caps, will be a crucial element in an All Blacks team completely different to the one that took the field in last weekend's 24-21 victory over England.

An injury-free performance against the Scots is likely to be enough to put him in next week's test against Wales, a match which could be the toughest of the All Blacks' tour.

Carter, the highest points scorer in test rugby history, wants more than that, though, and with pressure coming from Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett, it's perhaps right that he should.