Rookie All Blacks winger Leroy Carter has opened up on his impressive start to his international career and how he quickly he has made the transition from sevens to the 15-a-side game.
The 2025 rugby season has been an outstanding one for Carter as he has made rapid strides since switching codes.
A former New Zealand U20 representative, Carter was one of the stars of the All Blacks sevens team, who he represented from 2022 to 2024, before he decided to make the switch to 15s rugby.
Shone for the Chiefs in Super Rugby Pacific
He made his debut for the Chiefs earlier this year and finished in joint-fourth place in the Super Rugby Pacific try-scoring charts before earning a call-up to the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship squad.
He continued with his try-scoring exploits in the international arena and has scored three five-pointers in as many appearances for the All Blacks, after making his Test debut against the Springboks in Wellington last month.
The Boks cruised to a 43-10 victory in that encounter – which is the All Blacks’ heaviest ever defeat at Test level – but Carter made a brilliant start to his international career early in the first-half when he scored a well-taken try.
Despite that excellent start to his All Blacks career, Carter revealed that finding out that he would make his debut for the men in black came as a surprise to him.
He earned his selection after his Chiefs team-mate Emoni Narawa was ruled out due to an injury sustained the previous week against the Boks in the All Blacks’ 24-17 triumph at Eden Park.
“There’s still quality wingers in front of me, I thought, and then I was gutted for Ronzo (Narawa),” he told The Aftermatch with Kirst & Beav.
‘I was pretty gutted for him’
“Great mate of mine. Played heaps of rugby with him, and to see him have a start like that and then go down, he’s had a pretty rough run, so I was pretty gutted for him.
“I guess as everyone started recovering, Monday came around, I was like: ‘Oh, I could possibly be in here’. And then Tuesday came, and then boom, my name was up on the screen and I was like: ‘Oh!’
“That was the first I knew about it. And then that’s when the heart really started going and then we’re pretty much straight into training. So I guess it was a good way to just get into it straight away.”
He admitted that he was full of excitement in the build-up to his debut, especially on the matchday when he faced off against double Rugby World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe.
“The whole week was pretty special,” said Carter.
“Got to, obviously, (the) national anthem and then straight after that, I was like: ‘Don’t mess up the haka’. And then after the haka, you’re like, ‘Oh, now I’ve got to play 80’.
“So it was, and then not only play 80, but against the Springboks with Cheslin, marking him, which is arguably the best winger in the world right now.
“So it was definitely thrown in the deep end to see if I can swim. But, it was pretty cool.”
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