Kiwis regain Carter, lose Slade again

All Black ace Dan Carter emerged from his first game since his World Cup-ending injury unscathed at the weekend, orchestrating crucial touches to the Crusaders' 28-21 Super Rugby win over the Cheetahs.

But the news was not all good for New Zealand's flyhalf stocks as Carter's understudy in the No.10 jersey, the injury-prone Colin Slade, suffered another serious break and will be sidelined for up to 12 months.

Carter, who declared before the game "the body feels good, the groin's good", came off the bench at half-time and featured in the two Crusaders second half tries in their victory over the Cheetahs.

Showing no sign of the groin injury that destroyed his World Cup dream last October - although he left the kicking duties with novice number 10 Tom Taylor - Carter made an immediate impact when he took the field.

With his first touch of the ball he timed a delayed pass to put Robbie Fruean into a gap for a try and sending a message that the Crusaders season was turning around after back-to-back losses.

With five minutes remaining, the scores locked at 21-all and the Crusaders forwards intent on battering their way to the line, Carter saw the defence was drawn in and called for the ball to put Dagg over to seal a 28-21 victory.

Meanwhile, Slade's horror run of injuries continued when his left ankle was fractured in a tackle during the Highlanders' 26-33 loss to the Brumbies in Canberra.

Slade, who missed most of last year's Super Rugby season when he twice suffered a broken jaw and then suffered a groin injury that ruled him out of the World Cup, has been admitted to hospital and will undergo an operation in the next few days.

Slade's wretched run of injuries also included a hernia.

That's not where it ends for the Highlanders, with John Hardie also a major casualty.

Lock-cum-flank Nick Croswell is also facing six weeks on the sideline with a knee injury.

The

first situation is particularly worrying for Highlanders coach Jamie

Joseph, with Lima Sopoaga (shoulder) also unlikely to play again this

season.