Hugo Porta heaps praise on Cruden

@mikey,

each to their own bro so all good.

i should have stated that carter is the best flyhalf i have ever seen with my own eyes and despite how tough and rugged players of a bygone era were, i believe that modern day players are better, for lack of a better word, they are just too 'professional'.

another reason IMO carter is the best is that its easy to standout when ur the best player in the team and the rest are not as good, but try standing out in a team like the All Blacks.
how many guys u know roll like this??? how many dudes u know flow like this???
not many, if any,

except carter and of course the greatest rugby player ever king richie,

 "When I look at McCaw this year compared to the McCaw of the past - he is definitely slower than he used to be and his ball handling is less effective.   Unfortunately he can be doing himself and his reputation a disservice if he plays beyond his sell-by date."
handling errors??? u mean McCaws two handling errors in the RC/4nats is sullying his reputation??? o_O
sir, u are one tough taskmaster, lolz, :oP

players of every sport always lose speed as they grow older, but its how they compensate when parts of their game start diminish that determines their worth to the game.
for McCaw there is not a single player in the world who has evolved his game to ensure he stays ahead of everyone bar none.
back 6-7 years ago McCaw was the pilfering king with georgie porgie giving him some good battles, and only now in the last 5 or so years have teams put great emphasis on this part of the game, but while they are focusing on this, McCaw changed his style to be a more productive link man for the backs while still fulfilling his breakdown duties, but not with the same gusto as years gone past.
during the RWC and the year leading into it he was effectively another crash baller and good one at that too, always helping the All Blacks cause with the tight stuff but never once shirking from his primary flankers duties.
this is what puts McCaw light years ahead of everyone else, TMO theres not a single flanker in the world playing now or IMO ever who can do all the things that McCaw can do.

more importantly though, McCaw is doing that now, he outworked the entire Bok backrow in dunedin last year and he pretty much did the same to the wallabies this years.
so i dont think ur comments hold any water, but i dont blame u for wanting to drop him, i would too if someone that good didnt play for the All Blacks, :oP

"Carter is not there yet - but how many times did he miss matches this year because of injuries?   Too many for my liking."
injuries are part and parcel of the game, but in saying that carters injury list is a lot more notable these days, but his current red cross stint is cos of that hit from bizzy and thats not an age related injury.
as for the number of matches that carter has missed, i only need to direct ur attention to goosen who has missed more games since his professional career began than carter has in over a decade, :o)