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New Zealand v Tonga Preview: All Blacks need to eradicate errors as an NZ paper claims Carter ‘should be sacked’

As the All Blacks aim to recover their safe hands after a couple of ‘off’ games, we discover homeland criticism for Dan Carter, explain why McCaw’s absence is no drama and find out about Whitelock’s worming.

Rarely has a pool game at the Word Cup attracted more controversy and concern amongst All Black supporters than the upcoming one against Tonga.

Why the angst? The fact that coach Steve Hansen has defended stuttering efforts against Namibia and Georgia on the grounds that he is keeping better tactics up his sleeve for the knockout section.

Hansen’s built a reputation for straight shooting. And its patently true that the All Blacks’ kicking game, or their one off running near the breakdowns, will be more in force when they face either France or Ireland in Cardiff.

But the concern is the unforced handling errors, which against Georgia saw the dropped pass count hitting double figures before halftime.

In the Tongan game, the attention will be on whether the All Blacks can recover the high skill levels on which they base so much of their game.

Dan not the man?

Dan Carter is an iconic All Black, but he’s not given a free pass by critics at home - and a writer in New Zealand’s highest circulating daily paper, the Herald, has demanded he be sacked.

Chris Rattue claimed Carter’s performance against Georgia was so bad it “amounted to a dereliction of duty.” He described Carter as a protected species, who should have been left behind in favour of one test rookie, Lima Sopoaga.

Rattue’s readers largely agreed, one even suggesting a team-mate should “accidentally” injure Carter at training so Sopoaga could be flown in.

Less hysterical observers, however, noted that Rattue was the man who as late as the year before the 2011 World Cup was adamant that “the All Blacks cannot win the Cup with Graham Henry as coach.”

Whitelock’s worming

All Black lock Sam Whitelock has a bizarre weapon in his armoury that harks back to his farming roots – being wormed by his mother.

Whitelock was brought up on a farm in the Manawatu in the North Island and his maternal grandfather was a farmer called Nelson Dalzell, who toured Britain and France as a lock in the 1953-54 All Blacks.

Last year, Whitelock’s mother revealed an unusual family tradition, based on a rural life, that exposes people to parasites. When her boys come home, she told a journalist, “I still worm them. I even worm their girlfriends.”

It obviously works, as Whitlock and his brothers have all carried on the family’s rugby traditions. Loose forward George was also an All Black, while back Adam and loose forward Luke were Crusaders.

No drama on missing McCaw

A chill ran through All Black fan ranks when it was announced captain Richie McCaw would not be playing in this final pool game.

After the 2011 World Cup it was revealed McCaw had played most of the tournament with a fractured bone in his foot, which swelled so much during games he could not have put a boot back on if he took it off.

There were fears that an injury could cripple him again this time around – but coach Steve Hansen swears it’s just a bruise on the leg from the highly physical Georgia game.

“If it was a final, he’d be playing,” Hansen said when the team was announced. “But there’s no point in taking a risk.”

Makeup master hits 100

Ma’a Nonu will become the first All Black centre to notch 100 games when he starts against Tonga. He is also the only All Black to have ever played super rugby while wearing mascara.

A man with a keen sense of humour, he decided in 2004 that just wearing dreadlocks wasn’t enough to make him stand out in a Hurricanes team where Tana Umaga and Rodney So’oialo had the same hair do. So he took to wearing eye liner on the field.

Nobody questioned his masculinity - and not just because he was such a fierce tackler. Before he became a professional player he worked in a Wellington seafood restaurant. Part of his job? Grabbing snapping, angry crayfish out of a tank with his bare hands.

Kaino the late-starting superman

Jerome Kaino is one of the most physical players in the All Blacks. But unlike many New Zealand players he didn’t develop his tackling skill as a small boy.

Rugby was banned from his south Auckland primary school after a boy’s jaw was broken playing a tackling game called “bullrush” in the playground.

When he did start playing rugby at 13 he was, he says, “a skinny kid”, who had to learn the proper technique to avoid being hurt. During the 2011 World Cup he became a cult figure with All Black fans for his devastating defence.

“Superman and Jerome Kaino had a fight,” tweeted one. “The loser had to wear his underpants outside his trousers.” But don’t call Kaino a hard man. “It’s not how I see myself,” he says, “and it’s CERTAINLY not how my family sees me.”