Cloud over Carter comeback

Legendary All Black flyhalf Dan Carter's comeback from his latest injury appears to have been pushed back once more.

Initially pencilled in to return in the latter stages of the Rugby Championship, it now appears Carter will not feature in the competition this year.

The 32-year-old, who has not played for the All Blacks since last November, had a six-month sabbatical and suffered a leg fracture playing for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby Final against the Waratahs last month.

The 100-cap Crusaders playmaker continues to make sluggish progress in his recovery from the injury.

New Zealand assistant coach Ian Foster told a media scrum in Wellington that Carter was only now beginning contact work, reducing the hopes of having him available for Tests away to Argentina (September 27) and South Africa (October 5).

"I doubt we'll see him in the Rugby Championship, but we'll see what happens in the next week or two," Foster said.

The All Blacks had hoped to have him back for their final two matches in the Southern Hemisphere championship.

"Dan is tracking really well," Foster added.

"He will certainly be coming back to play at some point, it's just a matter of how we integrate him through - whether it's through the NPC [New Zealand's domestic competition] or through us [the All Blacks], we have some decisions to make.

"He is at the controlled running stage and we have just introduced some contact. He has been tackled a bit. So he's ticking the boxes.

"We're still probably a week away from having to make that decision yet."

Carter, the world leading test points scorer, is considered a 'red flag athlete' by the All Blacks, whose playing workload and return from injury needs to be carefully monitored.

He has been hampered by several injuries that have restricted his appearances in the last three seasons and part of the reason to grant him a sabbatical was so he could have surgery and work on his conditioning ahead of next year's World Cup in England.

He had slowly worked his way back to match fitness with targeted appearances in a low-level club match and off the bench in Super Rugby before he started at inside centre for the Crusaders in their final four matches.