'He was hurting': All Black flyer gets a cuddle after Soweto horror show
SPOTLIGHT: Wing Leroy Carter will have a huge spotlight on him after his performance in the third Test of the Greatest Rivalry series against the Springboks.
The speedster had a hand in a couple of the All Blacks’ tries in the 24-29 defeat in Soweto. However, he also let his team down on defence.
He missed a couple of tackles in the build-up to the Boks’ first try of the game before producing an awful attempted tackle on Jesse Kriel, who raced away for a try in the second half.
As the team prepares for the fourth and final Test in the series in Baltimore, head coach Dave Rennie had a simple approach to deal with a player who must be low on confidence after that performance.
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“Give him a cuddle,” said Rennie with a smile before adding: “He is such a good man and he was hurting.
“It’s tough. When a winger misses tackles, it is out in the open and you concede points and it hurts.
“If a big fella around the edge of a ruck misses a tackle, no one will notice it.
“It’s part of the responsibility of him defending out wide, and I know he will be better.”
It remains to be seen if Carter keeps his position in the starting XV for the Baltimore clash as Rennie aims to freshen things up.
The Springboks lead the series 2-1 ahead of that decider.
“We sort of always thought that we would make changes for the fourth Test, regardless of whether we won our third one or not,” Rennie explained.
“It’s about making sure we bring in guys with plenty of energy and share the load.
“Obviously there are three key players [Ardie Savea, Luke Jacobson and Quinn Tupaea] missing, and it alters that thinking a bit as well.
“What we know is that we will have 23 highly motivated guys for the weekend.”
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