CARDIFF (AFP) - New Zealand star Daniel Carter reckons he'll know at least a day before Saturday's kick-off in the World Cup quarter-final against France if he'll be fit to play - and the fly-half is confident he will be taking the field here at the Millennium Stadium following a calf injury.
Carter missed last Saturday's 85-8 Pool win against Romania with the injury and although he was only starting to step up his training on Thursday, he was upbeat about his chances of facing the French having been named earlier in the week in coach Graham Henry's starting side.
"I think I'll get a good feel for it this afternoon and again at the captain's run on Friday," Carter told reporters at the squad's hotel here on Thursday ahead of training when asked about whether he would need a late fitness test on Saturday morning.
After the training session, New Zealand spokesman Brian Finn said of 25-year-old Canterbury outside-half Carter: "He trained well. He took part in most of the session but not all of it.
"It's pretty positive and we are very happy. There will probably be an update tomorrow (Friday) after the captain's run."
Carter, widely regarded as the best No 10 currently in world rugby union, said it had been a tricky week.
"That's the tough thing, not having your usual preparation but I can't dwell on it because it's not going to put you in good stead for the game.
"I know I was in good shape before this happened," said Carter, who has played 43 Tests since making his debut against Wales in Hamilton four years ago. "I know the game plan just as well as anyone else. They are a few good reasons to go into the game confident.
"Earlier in the week I was feeling it. I've had a lot of work from the physio to get it right and it's responded well to the treatment."
Asked how he'd sustained the injury, Carter said there was no one specific incident. "I just felt it was tight. It got worse as training went on. It's the first calf muscle injury I've had."
While Nick Evans waits in the wings to come in should Carter not make it, France too have generated plenty of debate with Lionel Beauxis, who has played just nine Tests, chosen instead of the mercurial genius of Frederic Michalak.
The 21-year-old Beauxis is known for his kicking game and France's gameplan appears to be to use the Stade Francais stand-off's boot to advance them downfield and put their well-respected lineout in a position to set up attacks.
But both Beauxis and full-back Damien Traille will have to be spot on with their touchfinders against a New Zealand back three which features the running talents of Fiji-born wings Joe Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu.
"They've selected some good kickers. They've shown how they are looking to play the game. That's good for us. We've got a good back three," Carter said.
"The French really pride themselves on their lineout so for them to have a good kicking game may vary from what I think is a good kicking game where you mix it up. It's a fair move from them.
"But the players we've got back there play with flair and back their instincts and they will be looking to bring it back," said Carter in what sounded like a description of a typical French back three.
Told that Beauxis's father, like Carter's own, had put up a set of posts in the garden when his son was a child, the Crusaders goalkicker - whose all-round game has also won plaudits - replied: "There are a few similarities then."
