Leroy Carter’s surprise call-up to New Zealand’s squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship almost turned into a disaster when he realised that his dog had eaten his passport.
Chiefs utility back Carter was named among the injury replacements in Scott Robertson's All Blacks squad as one of four uncapped players and admitted that the phone call telling him he’d been included came as a huge shock.
Things then got even more bizarre when the 26-year-old found his passport chewed up on his bed, a guilty-looking pet nearby and had to scramble to find a replacement in order to fly to Argentina ahead of the Rugby Championship-opening clash with the Pumas next Saturday (16 August).
“I got my passport out to take a photo to send to the (team) manager and I just left it on my bedside table,” explained Carter.
“My partner went to the gym and left my dog home alone and it’s gone down the hallway, jumped on the bed and just chewed up the passport and my teeth aligners.
“It was a bit of a shambles yesterday. I was trying to get an emergency one but I think it’s all sussed (sorted) now. I thought it would happen to me, something like that, so no point getting stressed about it, just trying to sort it out.”
Most of the All Blacks squad will fly to Argentina on Friday, giving them eight days of preparation for the Test match in Cordoba next weekend.
Carter, who represented New Zealand in rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics and won a bronze with the squad at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, earned his first All Blacks call-up after his debut season with the Hamilton-based Chiefs in Super Rugby.
He was out for breakfast with his partner and some of his teammates from provincial side Bay of Plenty when New Zealand coach Robertson called to confirm his selection on Monday.
“I got an unknown-number call. I guess I thought if there was a day to answer those it was probably (that day) and he just said congratulations,” added Carter.
"I honestly can’t really remember what else he said after that. I was pretty emotional and pretty stoked to get a phone call like that. All the boys were pretty pumped but I was still in a bit of a shock."
Additional reporting by Reuters
