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Clayton McMillan's verdict on his former All Blacks Sevens star's debut
By Ben Smith
Three former All Blacks Sevens flyers lined up in new colours in round one of Super Rugby Pacific and each of them left a strong impression, not least of which was the Chiefs’ Leroy Carter.
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The hard-nosed outside back was industrious in his Super Rugby debut, bringing energy and some explosive physicality to every contact, scoring a try in the second half to lift the Chiefs to victory.
All the more impressive was Carter came up against All Black pair Caleb Clarke and Mark Tele’a, two of the world’s best wingers.
“Awesome. He’s some pocket rocket,” head coach Clayton McMillan told reporters in Auckland.
“He’s a competitor, a real competitor and awesome in our group. I think he’s going to be awesome through the years and if he stays injury free he’s going to push the other wingers for opportunities to play.
“He certainly made a good fist of it tonight against two of the world’s best.”
“Every minute.”
Carter was credited with three line breaks in his debut, equalling first five-eighth Damian McKenzie for the most in the match. He finished with 46 run metres on 11 carries, while beating nine defenders on the night.
The emergence of Carter has filled the void left by Shaun Stevenson’s sabbatical and could end up being the signing of the season of the former sevens ace continues his form.
The Chiefs host the Crusaders on Friday night, who were able to get back to winning ways with a victory over the Hurricanes in round one.
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“I thought it was a good game. The Crusaders have got a legacy of success and last year was a little bit of an anomaly and a team with that sort of internal expectation were never going to roll over. It would have been disappointing if they didn’t show some fight and that’s exactly what we saw.
“The Hurricanes were equally as impressive at times. It was a game that went both ways, a good ding-dong (battle) and we’ll expect another one next week.”
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