Dan Carter weighs into Beauden Barrett v Damian McKenzie debate and why All Blacks ‘values’ are key in fly-half battle

All Blacks legend Dan Carter believes that Scott Robertson is ‘lucky’ to have fly-halves the calibre of Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett available to him.

Once again, those two outstanding playmakers will vie for the coveted New Zealand number 10 shirt after going head-to-head throughout 2024.

In Robertson’s first year in charge, McKenzie was initially the favoured option, but his mixed performances in the jersey led to an alteration in the second half of the season.
Barrett favoured

By the end of the year, Barrett was in the driver’s seat and was favoured by the head coach as he started against England, France and Italy in the Autumn Nations Series.

“I think they’re really lucky to actually have two quality players,” Carter told RugbyPass.

“We all know the attacking capabilities of Beauden and what he’s capable of but having his experience there to kind of rely on him when we need, you just know what you’re going to get from him on a consistent basis.

“And DMac, he’s still growing and learning and the lessons that he would’ve learned from last year would’ve been huge for him and really helped guide him in the future.

“I’d hate to be Scott Robertson at the moment, trying to decide between the two. Just to have two quality players like that in the 10 jersey is really beneficial.”