Former All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter has named the best team and player he faced against during an illustrious career that spanned nearly two decades.

Appearing on the ‘Aotearoa Rugby Pod’, Carter, who brought the curtain down on his career in February 2021, was asked for the best team he had played against.

The 40-year-old said that title belonged to the Springbok team that played under Jake White and Peter de Villiers between 2007 and 2009.

Under Jake White, the Springboks were crowned world champions in 2007 before going on to complete a clean sweep of the All Blacks as they won the Tri-Nations in 2009 under De Villiers.

In total, Carter faced the Springboks 19 times, winning 15 of those clashes. Two of his four losses against the Springboks were in 2008 and 2009.

“They [Springboks] were quite dominant,” Carter said. “Obviously, they won in 2007, the World Cup. 2009, there was a real Bulls style to their play back then.

“They were dominating at Super Rugby back then as well, the Bulls back then, and South African rugby was such a force. It was brutal.

“Every time you played against the Boks, you knew that you were going to be sore until Wednesday or Thursday.

“It was like I had a target on me. Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger, Pierre Spies – they were all just big, athletic human beings and they were really dominant in that time.”

As far as the best player goes, Carter paid tribute to former England flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson as the best he has faced in nearly two decades of rugby.

“There’s so many, it’s hard to pinpoint one [player],” Carter said, adding: “Probably because I held him in such high regard and had a huge amount of respect for him, it was Jonny Wilkinson.

“He was an absolute student of the game.”

Photo: Richard Heathcote – World Rugby via Getty Images/World Rugby via Getty Images