Daniel William Carter ONZM (born 5 March 1982) is a New Zealand retired rugby union player.

He is the highest point scorer in test match rugby,[1] and is considered by many experts as the greatest ever first five-eighth (fly-half) in the history of the game.

In 2011, he captained the team against the French, shortly before he suffered a groin injury during the pool stage; in 2015, he played during the entire tournament, including in the final against Australia, where he kicked four penalties, two conversions, and a drop goal, and was named the man of the match.

He attended Ellesmere College where he played mostly at first five-eighth, and then in his final year he transferred to Christchurch Boys' High School to further his chances of succeeding in rugby.

He recovered in time to play for his home provincial union, Canterbury, in the opening game of the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup.

[9] In November 2015 Carter revealed that, while recovering from an Achilles tendon tear in 2013, he met with Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots of the National Football League about possibly joining the team as a kicker.

[10] On 24 June 2016, Carter helped Racing Metro win the 2016 Top 14 final with a 29–21 win against Toulon at Camp Nou, Barcelona scoring 15 points (5 penalties) and was named Man of the Match despite being down to 14 men 18 minutes into the game after teammate Maxime Machenaud got sent off for a dangerous tackle on Australian international Matt Giteau.

[12] On 17 February 2019, it was announced that Dan Carter was returning to Racing 92 as injury cover after Patrick Lambie was forced to retire due to concussions.

In June 2003, Carter made his All Blacks debut at age 21 in Hamilton, New Zealand, scoring 20 points against Wales.

Although he has been an All Black since 2003 he only secured a permanent position as the first five-eighth in the team during the 2004 tour to the United Kingdom and France displacing Carlos Spencer.

Carter reclaimed the record on 30 July 2011 when he advanced to 1,204 points in the first tri-nations match of the 2011 series against South Africa.

Along with Richie McCaw Carter earns 750,000 NZD a year being the joint highest paid player in New Zealand.

However, it was later announced that Carter would miss the rest of the 2011 Rugby World Cup after tearing a groin tendon during the final training session before the match against Canada.

[19] On 16 November 2013, Carter became the fifth All Black to play 100 caps when New Zealand defeated England by 30–22 at Twickenham on their end of year tour.

[21] On 15 August 2015 Carter played his final test in New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup decider at Eden Park, a trophy he has never lost since his debut.

[47] In May 2018, Carter stated that he declined an offer to switch to National Football League (NFL) as a kicker for New England Patriots after The Rugby World Cup in 2015.