Scotland v New Zealand, November 11
Carter issues warning to Scots
ESPN Staff
November 9, 2012
Australia's Adam Ashley Cooper hangs on to Dan Carter, Australia v New Zealand, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia, October 20, 2012
All Blacks playmaker Dan Carter has not scored a Test try for two years © Getty Images
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New Zealand fly-half Dan Carter has sounded an ominous warning to Scotland ahead of their clash at Murrayfield on Sunday.

The All Blacks playmaker has revealed that his side are relishing the opportunity to put their below par showing against Australia last month behind them with a return to top form in Edinburgh. The All Blacks' hopes of securing a record-equalling 17th consecutive Test victory were dashed by the Wallabies who claimed an 18-18 draw following an error-strewn game Bledisloe Cup encounter.

And the Scots look set to bear the brunt of the Kiwis' frustration at seeing their winning run come to an end and their standards slip. "We were pretty disappointed in our last performance in Brisbane," Carter said. "The tough thing is after a performance like that you want to play the following week and make amends. We've had to wait a couple of weeks before this game, our next opportunity to play better.

"This game it's more about us. We haven't looked at the opposition, Scotland, all that much this week. We're really wanting to focus on our performance so we walk off the pitch at the end of the 80 minutes and be really happy with the performance.

"When you look at it like that it takes the opposition out of the equation. This weekend's another chance to really work on our game and put in a performance that we're going to be proud of."

Carter's apparent disregard for his side's opposition also extends to his opposite number - Greig Laidlaw." I haven't even seen Scotland's starting line-up or who's playing this week," said the 30-year-old. "I've got certain things that I want to get out of this game, more on a personal and team basis, than looking too much at the opponents."

All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen is also keen to see a significant improvement from his side. "There have been a couple of games where we let ourselves down, one not so long ago," said Hansen. "At the beginning of the year we set out some goals and we challenged ourselves. Every paper we picked up told us we'd have a (World Cup) hangover and that made us more determined not to."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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