New Zealand 79 - 15 Canada: Dark day as All Blacks lose Dan Carter for rest of World Cup

Given it was only hours after the Carter announcement, the main domestic interest in New Zealand’s 12-try, 79-15 thrashing of Canada was on how Colin Slade performed at fly-half.

Carter has scored an international record 1,250 Test points and is the best No 10 in world rugby. The lack of an understudy for the 29-year-old pivot has long been seen as the Achilles heel of the All Blacks’ World Cup campaign, so the worst fears of a New Zealand public desperate to end a World Cup drought have been realised.

All Blacks fans may not yet be convinced of Slade’s credentials for the high-pressure knockout rounds, but coach Graham Henry expressed full confidence.

“Going forward… well, Colin Slade’s the boy,” Henry said. “He played pretty well for a large part of the game today. He just needs more football, so the more times we can get him out there the better he’s going to be.”

Slade said after the match that “it has been a tough 24 hours”.

The pessimistic mood of the general public wasn’t helped when the New Zealand Warriors lost in the final of Australia’s National Rugby League competition to the Manly Sea Eagles in Sydney on Sunday night.

But Ireland’s win in Pool C about 40 minutes later at least gave them a slight boost, if only because it means arch-rivals Australia has a tougher road to the World Cup final.

The Irish finished on top of a pool for the first time ever at the World Cup, forcing second place Australia – the reigning Tri-Nations champion – into a knockout against Pool D winner and defending World Cup champion South Africa. The winner of that will likely have to play New Zealand in the semi-finals.

A long dark cloud descended over New Zealand and talk of cup curses started immediately after Henry told a news conference that Carter was sidelined from the injury sustained during kicking practice on Saturday (pictured below).

The 23-year-old Slade started for only the fourth time in his nine-Test career and had a reasonable game directing the backline for the first 50 minutes against Canada, but was off-target with the boot. Piri Weepu had a more constructive game when he went on as No 10. New Zealand were already assured of a quarter-final spot ahead of its last match, and had no real difficulty against the Canadians despite the absence of Carter.

“It’s a tragic situation for a highly talented young sportsman,” Henry said. “This was his scene really; a World Cup in New Zealand and it was going to be his big occasion.”

The injury occurred only hours after Carter had been asked to captain New Zealand for the first time in his 84-Test career in the absence of Richie McCaw, who was ruled out of the Canada match with of a foot injury.

Henry, now a 100-Test coach, said the All Blacks needed to “show strength,” both to support Carter and to move on in the tournament in his absence.

Scorers: New Zealand: Tries: Guildford 4, Vito 2, Dagg, Muliaina, Cowan, Kaino 2, S. Williams. Cons: Slade 4, Weepu 4. Pen: Slade. Canada: Tries: Trainor 2. Con: Monro. Pen: Monro.

New Zealand: Woodcock, Hore, O. Franks, Whitelock, A. Williams, Kaino, Vito, Read, Cowan, Slade, Guildford, S. Williams, Smith, Dagg, Muliaina. Replacements: B. Franks for O. Franks (56), Weepu for Read (51), Ellis for Cowan (62), Toeava for Dagg (47), Boric for Muliaina (51). Not Used: Mealamu, Thorn.

Canada: Evans, Trainor, van der Merwe, Smith, P. Mackenzie, Monro, Fairhurst, Buydens, Riordan, Marshall, Sinclair, Cudmore, Kleeberger, O’Toole, Carpenter. Replacements: Dala for Evans (64), White for van der Merwe (30), Hirayama for Fairhurst (63), Tiedemann for Buydens (63), Hamilton for Riordan (47), Franklin for Marshall (52), Hotson for Cudmore (63).

Referee: R Poite (France). Attendance: 30,000.