Carter's horrific night of violence in SA

Carter's just released autobiography, Dan Carter – My Story, contains a vivid account of the unexpected night of violence that erupted in Johannesburg after his New Zealand under-21 team finished third at the world championships in 2002.

The chapter entitled 'A Short Walk on the Wild Side' details a savage beating several of his teammates suffered from bouncers at a "dodgy" South African nightclub, including a vicious pistol-whipping endured by Sam Tuitupou, who would go on to play alongside Carter in the All Blacks.

Trouble began when Carter and teammates headed out in their team-issue polos that felt like "armour" and arrived at a "dodgy club in the middle of nowhere".

"I still don't know how we settled on that particular place, but somehow half the World Cup squads were there, blowing off steam after the tournament," he wrote.

At first the evening seemed convivial enough, but Carter soon felt an "edge" in the air.

"South Africa was still a pretty divided country racially in some scenarios. I remember being vaguely conscious that certain parts of the crowd might have been disturbed by the Polynesians in our midst," he wrote.

Then things took a turn for the worse, with Carter recalling "a voice boomed over the club's sound system: 'Could all New Zealanders please leave the premises immediately'."

Eventually once they realised it wasn't a joke, Carter and his teammates made their way to the exit.

After seeing some "scuffles" breaking out between New Zealand squad members and security staff, and feeling "things were getting heated", Carter said he and teammate Luke McAlister decided to get away and left in a car.

"We never imagined that our teammates – big, strong athletes in great condition – couldn't handle themselves against a few security guys. We didn't know it yet, but that one random, somewhat selfish decision might have ended up saving our lives.

"As soon as we left, things exploded, players started brawling with the bouncers … [and] reinforcements arrived not long after. It became a scene of extreme violence, and guys were getting seriously beaten up. Sam Tuitupou laid a couple of guys out, before being overrun.

"Then gunshots rang out .. our team retreated to the vans. Sam had been pistol-whipped, Jason Shoemark had copped a hell of a beating. As the vans tried to leave, the windows were smashed in – our guys were jumping fences, just running for their lives."

Carter and McAlister returned to the scene of the carnage to discover their teammates had fled.

"We headed back to the hotel scared out of our minds, still not sure what had happened … When we arrived it was just carnage. There were guys with blood everywhere, guys missing teeth, broken noses, black eyes.

"It was horrifying. Everyone was terrified, scared for their lives, belatedly realising where they were and how quickly things could escalate," he wrote, referring to the gun that had been pulled.

"We went out a bunch of kids, but came back beaten and bruised, and very aware that South Africa was a very different environment to the one we'd left back home."

It was not to be the last scary incident for Carter in South Africa either. He also wrote about being the victim of a mugging the following year while in Cape Town with the Crusaders.

Carter and two teammates had become separated from the team on a night out for team drinks and, briefly, he found himself alone while they walked to a nightclub.

"Out of nowhere two guys came up and pinned me against a wall. One of them demanded my phone, but I was a bit drunk and cocky. 'It's alright,' I replied, 'I'm talking on it.'

"'Get your gun out and shoot him,' I heard. My blood ran cold. I handed him my phone, and walked off as quickly as I could, my pulse racing, entirely sobered up … 'I hate this country so much,' I said at the time, and meant it. It was a long while before I warmed to South Africa again. Now it's one of my favourite countries in the world."

Carter also opened up on a rare act of ill-discipline when he went on a drinking binge during the 2005 All Blacks tour of Britain.

An extract from Carter's biography of a night he and teammates left the All Blacks camp in Wales and headed to London.

It was a week before the All Blacks' opening game in Cardiff.

Carter, who was 23 at the time, and his mates – Piri Weepu, Jimmy Cowan, Aaron Mauger, Leon MacDonald and Jason Eaton  – had already been out drinking in Cardiff when they jumped in a cab at 05.00 and headed to London, deciding they wanted to drink at the infamous "Church" bar there which is frequented by Kiwi and Australians.

"'Obviously we weren't thinking clearly, but the idea was infectious, and we eventually found a cabbie mad enough to take us. We gave him £300, grabbed some mix CDs and a box of beers and were soon speeding towards London," Carter recalls.

"The sun came up. Slowly the first shards of doubt started to enter our heads. Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea we'd ever had?'"

Arriving at the bar at 10.00am, two hours before opening, Mauger put things into perspective: "What the f*** are we doing in London? We've got to get out of here."

Manager Darren Shand was already aware of their absence and texts started flying.

They sheepishly returned to Cardiff and a team meeting that night saw them receive an "absolutely brutal drilling" from captain Tana Umaga.

"Tana absolutely ripped into us. [He said] 'that's not good enough. You should be sent home'. Jason Eaton hadn't even played a test, hadn't even played Super Rugby. Tana really got stuck into him, asking him who he thought he was, p***ing on this amazing environment.

"Same with Leon and Aaron, who were part of the leadership group, who were meant to impose discipline, not need it.'"

Earlier in the year Carter had cemented his position as the game's best No 10 with a standout series against the British & Irish Lions in New Zealand. But he felt his place in the side was in jeopardy.

But he ripped into training and regained the confidence of team management. He started against Wales and helped the All Blacks to a 41-3 win in Cardiff that was the start of a Grand Slam winning tour.

Carter was later named New Zealand's player of the year for 2005.

Sources: stuff.co.nz & Sunday Telegraph