Scotland v New Zealand: Modest Dan Carter prepares to bring thunder to Murrayfield

THE All Blacks' website insists that he is now recognised only as "one of the best stand-offs in world rugby", but few others bother with such qualification, and even his opponents this week have been stating that Dan Carter is the best No 10 in the game at present, and a good contender also for the best player in world rugby.

When it gets to the stage that every opposing stand-off just shrugs and says he is facing the best, then a player knows he has arrived. However, Carter "arrived" some time ago, perhaps when he made his All Blacks debut in 2003 aged 21 and only a matter of months after he stepped into professional rugby with the Crusaders; or when he scored 465 points at all levels in the 2004 season; or a mere 33 points in steering New Zealand to a 3-0 Test whitewash of the British and Irish Lions - or perhaps later in 2005 when he collected the gong as IRB World Player of the Year.

It must have started to sink in the next year when his 26 points against Wales set a mark in that fixture, the England figure having been equalled, or when his 25 points against South Africa tied the record against the Springboks, or when his 15th Test try, scored against England at Twickenham, set an All Blacks record for most Test tries by a stand-off, which he has taken to 28.

Gone are the records of "points machine" Andrew Mehrtens' in Super rugby and the international arena and, this year, Grant Fox's all-time points total, as Carter passed the 1,000-point mark in the summer. And the Christ-church lad is still only 28.

Meeting up in the team hotel in Edinburgh this week, Carter is as relaxed and open as one could hope for in an interviewee. Taking a punch from Sonny Bill Williams, he insists that his All Black teammates work hard to keep him grounded, with plenty wind-ups, but he also points to his upbringing.

More: Scotland v. New Zealand

• Scots will not face Keven Mealamu as ban cut to two matches

• Belief and execution key to Scotland staying in game

• Scotland v New Zealand: How they line up at Murrayfield

• Success from simple solutions required

• Five near misses for Scots against All Blacks

• Premium- Allan Massie: Inspired by Mouse that roared, fast-forward Scots could be undoing of mighty visitors

"I don't really think too much about it," he said. "I know I can get better and I am always looking for parts of my game that I can improve. When I hear things like that (opponents saying he is the best] I am pretty humbled by those comments.

"I don't see myself as being the best or think that I am the best. I am who I am and what I want to do is to play as well as I can for my team and the black jersey and add to the fantastic legacy of the All Blacks. There is a lot of competition in the All Blacks, and I am just wanting to improve my game as much as possible in a great team. I am always striving for perfection.

"A big part is my upbringing as well, in terms of keeping me grounded I think.I came from a very small village outside Christchurch and I keep a close relationship with family and friends.

"But this environment really does encourage you to be the best that you possibly can. I am working so hard just to do the jersey justice. It is one thing making this side, but that is just the start. You want to be here for a long time and really be remembered as being an All Black great." He is more aware of his competition for the No 10 jersey, it is probably fair to say, than anyone else. Stephen Donald struggled when he came off the bench for Carter against Australia to the point that it was widely agreed that the All Blacks would have won that game had Carter stayed on, and so would have been seeking to equal the world record of 17 Test victories this evening.

It is worth noting that the Cantabrian spent the first few years of his professional career learning the game away from stand-off - at inside centre - not unlike a similarly grounded Scot in Chris Paterson, only New Zealand knew when to put him back in at the heart of their game and hand him the controls.

This week, he has also been helping rising Scotland talents, working with Stuart Hogg, the Hawick youngster, and Mark Bennett of Ayr, and also dropping in on Queensferry School youngsters yesterday as part of an Adidas adiStars event.

Many of them knew who Carter was, and New Zealand are only too well aware of his value. He averages 15 points per game and the All Blacks have only lost nine of the 76 Tests that the fly-half has played in since his debut in 2003, which was why he went in for an ankle clean-up operation as soon as the Tri Nations finished as he complained of niggling pain.

The one regret he has was how a bid to make a mark in European rugby had to be aborted at Perpignan in early 2009 when he ruptured an Achilles tendon, but he has not ruled out another go after next year's World Cup.

Fully recovered now, however, Carter is thinking only of this weekend, insisting that a third Test match in three weeks is just what he is wanting after the recent lay-off. But, as he speaks about how the team must improve and where, the desire in a relatively small rugby player's body - he is just 5ft 10in and 14 stones - shines.

On whether he is fit enough to play another Test, he said: "I am pretty keen to play all of them (five autumn Tests] if required. I had a couple of months off with the surgery so I am fresh and the body is in pretty good shape. We have had a couple of games now and I am looking forward to playing again this weekend.

"There was a little bit of rust in the Hong Kong game and maybe last week too, so there are certain areas that we really want to improve. We are not holding on to the ball for long enough and we are putting ourselves under pressure because we are turning the ball over and not really sealing games out."We are scoring some good tries and then taking the throttle off and giving the other teams the opportunity to come back. We really have to make sure that we change that this week

"I think it's a little bit easier for us having a couple of games under your belt (than Scotland], because it means you have certain things to work on from last week and the week before.

"But they'll be pretty fresh and working hard. I watched them play against Argentina in the games earlier this year and I thought they looked fantastic. They played some really strong, solid rugby. There was some good balance in there; they can play with the ball in their hands and are very physical.

"Dan Parks, my immediate opponent, I have played against a couple of times and he is a great player; very skilful and reads the game well. He creates a lot of time and space for the players around him with his excellent kicking game, and he has been playing some fantastic footy of late so will be full of confidence, which is good for the Scots."

We begin to detect a bit of over-egging the praise for the opponent finally, but that is Carter's style. He is a polite and eminently likeable lad, the kind who will always ask you about your day before commenting on his. There is little doubt that that off-field serenity is closely related to the on-field one, where an ability to see things happening, gaps opening and chances beckoning, almost in slow-motion before others around him, and the not insignificant fact that he happens to be playing in the best team in the world, has lifted him to the stage on which he now performs.

It is difficult not to wax lyrical about the movement and skills of Carter, but as Scottish players have been saying all week, there are no gods in the New Zealand side, just exceptionally good players. He is undoubtedly one of them.