KEY POINTS:
It is hard to reconcile the firecracker five-eighths play of Daniel Carter with his almost somnolent persona away from that action.
Looking at Carter and listening as he talks about the World Cup, you wonder if his pulse rate ever rises. Asked a variety of questions, some meant to elicit information, others to provoke, Carter's response level never varies.
You have to believe him when he says he is very excited about his second World Cup campaign because there is scarcely a flicker in his conversation, barely a ripple of inflection in his voice.
He makes you wonder what would rattle him, what could spook that control he exhibits, what problems he must cause for rival coaches trying to devise ways of breaking his tempo.
Carter plays his 42nd test today against Italy in Marseille where much of the attention will zero in on his contribution, what sort of rhythm and direction he can bring to the All Blacks.
If New Zealand are the favourites for this tournament, just as England and Jonny Wilkinson were for the last event, then Carter has to be the man who guides the side to that rugby nirvana.
Quite rightly, Carter mentioned the All Blacks' strengths were throughout the squad and they do have the luxury of firepower from the bench as well. But as dynamic as Richie McCaw is and however well Carl Hayman sets the scrum, Carter will get the ball in his hands more than any other All Black.
His decisions will have a massive influence on the team's tournament fortunes. Do you think that is weighing heavily on the 25-year-old maestro?
Certainly not if you compare his horizontal demeanour to the angst-ridden body language Wilkinson used to exhibit and anguish about in his newspaper column during the 2003 World Cup.
Carter is much more from the Stephen Larkham school of five-eighths, with the Wallaby so laid back he earned the nickname Bernie, after the corpse in the Weekend at Bernie's movies.
Carter lets a few bits of information out but nothing of any great consequence. He is just relieved to get going after such a lengthy wait. This is the dream, the World Cup title is the goal, bring it on.
"I am really excited like a lot of the boys at the moment, it has been a long time coming," he said.
"I mean when the Tri-Nations was on we tried to put an emphasis on that and only thinking about that, but I would be lying to say the World Cup was not in the back of most of the guys' minds and it probably was in the back of mine. It is a relief to get that out of the way and to focus on this big job."
What about the rising levels of pressure?
"There is added pressure on it being a World Cup but you just have to look at the challenges and playing up on the world stage with the best teams is exciting ... you have to use that energy to really lift your game and play the best you can," said Carter.
It was important for the team and his confidence that he played well but he disputed the idea that the All Blacks' results depended on his form. They had won when he had not played well and that was the beauty of the all-round talent in the team.
Italy will play with passion and have a range of test-hardened quality players. The All Blacks need to meet their own standards and set down a marker about their calibre.
"We want to play as well as we can and improve each week. We do not want to cruise, we may be rusty to start with but we need to get going."
The twin training camps in Christchurch and Auckland had been very beneficial, the players had absorbed a great deal of information about their campaign plans. They had eased their way into the tournament with a few days break in Corsica and had built on the enthusiasm this week in Marseille.
"I feel pretty relaxed. I think it is just the way I am," said Carter.
"I don't get too nervous, it is a big occasion but I am more excited than anything else. You can't let these big occasions get to you, you just have to back your skills and back your teammates and it'll be fine.
"We have a lot of self-belief and that makes you less anxious and nervous. We are confident and want to get started.
"We have prepared well, set ourselves up over the last couple of years, we are experienced. A lot of the players were at last World Cup so we just have to be confident and execute."
World Cup On Tv
TV schedule (all live TV3, NZ times):
Today: Opening ceremony, Stade de France, Paris 6am; France v Argentina, St Denis 7am; New Zealand v Italy, Marseille 11.45pm.
Tomorrow: Japan v Australia, Lyon 1.45am; England v USA, Lens 4am; Wales v Canada, Nantes midnight.
Monday: South Africa v Samoa, Paris 2am; Scotland v Portugal, St Etienne 4am; Ireland v Namibia, Bordeaux 6am.
Wednesday: Argentina v Georgia, Lyon 6am; USA v Tonga, Montpellier midnight.
Thursday: Japan v Fiji, Toulouse 4am; Italy v Romania, Marseille 6am.
Saturday: England v South Africa, St Denis 7am.
