Legendary All Blacks first-five Dan Carter has heralded the rise of his successor Beauden Barrett, having risen to the ranks of the number 10 jersey.
Following Carter's retirement after the 2015 World Cup, Barrett has gone on to cement himself as one of the best players on the planet, winning back-to-back World Rugby Player of the Year awards in the process.
However, in recent time Barrett has faced competition to keep hold of his place in the All Blacks' backline, with Crusaders star Richie Mo'unga laying a claim to the role of first-choice first-five.
Carter though, is more than confident that Barrett is the right choice, now less than a year out from the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
"He was always a world class rugby player even when I was playing alongside him and you knew just what a talent he was," Carter told Sky Sports UK .
"Finally he's got his opportunity in the last couple of years and he's just taken it and taken his game to a new level. He's now directing and leading the backline and being one of the key figures of that team.
"He's really impressed me just with his leadership and obviously we all know how fast he is and with his skills he can just turn a game just like that. You can never relax because magical play from him just totally changes the game."
Barrett will be hoping to be handed the number 10 jersey for the All Blacks when Steve Hansen names his side to face Australia in Japan later today.
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