Underwhelming Carter needs to show that he still has it

Dan Carter's tackle and kicking percentages this season are still higher than Aaron Cruden, Colin Slade or Beauden Barrett. Photo / Getty Images

Daniel Carter has not produced a compelling group of performances this season.

It's hard to remember much he's done except hobble off in the opening match, return from South Africa for the birth of his second child and miss a number of clutch penalties last round.

His frame appears fine once more, we hear he's in the best shape of his senior career but his rugby flame is flickering. He's not in a minority at the Crusaders where a number of test players are struggling to find some better juice in their game.

Carter's standing as this country's best five-eighths should have seeped through his general play even if he has been playing one out from his preferred position.

Instead there's been a lack of involvement, which looks like an absence of confidence and lack of hunger or hints at confusion about his role. His register of performances has been underwhelming.

He's nailing about 90 per cent of his tackles and has kicked 75 per cent of his goals - which is higher than Aaron Cruden, Colin Slade or Beauden Barrett - but there's not been anything impressive.

A mid-season resume would describe Carter's work as routine and nowhere near the levels we remember or he wants.

Injuries then a sabbatical cut his All Black input to 17 tests out of the 42 they have played since the last World Cup. In some, like the test against Scotland late last year, his production was very modest.

He'd squeaked on to the tour, ahead of Slade, after recovering from nerve damage to his lower leg but scarcely made an impression. That uninspiring work has continued.

No matter what position he plays, you'd expect someone with Carter's pedigree to have emerged from his cobwebs by now.

The Crusaders need him and a number of others to front up this weekend. The All Black selectors want to see that as well.

Carter's 1455 test points are a world record and his average 14.4 points a game are the sort of security blanket which is a bonus in high-pressure matches.

Teams need to lean on all that sort of know-how in the sudden-death stages of World Cups but Carter needs to show he still has that full range of tricks and is not withering under the heat of expectation.