“Aye, There’s the Rub!”

Carter’s grand total of his sejour in Perpignan with USAP:

Carter had surgery to repair his torn Achilles at the Sauvegarde Clinic in Lyon by Dr David DeJour.  He was told by the good doctor that he will be out of action for at least 6 months. This means that not only will Carter miss the rest of the year with Perpignan, he will miss the All Black’s June friendly matches, as well as a good chunk of the Tri-Nations series. 

The bigger question will be can Carter come back to the same form for New Zealand in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which will be hosted by the Kiwis. It’s a pretty safe bet that Kiwi stomachs are jumping like trout in places like Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and every place in-between in the rugby-mad island nation.

Perpignan, who is having all kinds of injury problems, got taken to the woodshed by Bayonne in the French Top 14 on Saturday, 19-13. For the moment, they have a 5 point lead on 4th place Clermont Auvergne (who play Toulouse on Sunday) and an 11 point lead on Bayonne.  I think Perpignan SHOULD be able to still finish in the top 4 to qualify for the playoffs, but once in, I just don’t think they can compete against Stade Français, Toulouse or Clermont Auvergne without a top flight fly-half. 

For the meantime, to try fill in at Fly Half, Perpignan signed 22 year old Argentine Ignacio Mieres. A good opportunity to prove himself.

For now, looks like USAP fans can get Dan Carter merchandise at a very reasonable price in their fan shop.