Dan Carter will sit out the Test against Wales © Getty Images

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News: Carter concern for All Blacks

Players/Officials: Dan Carter

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Teams: New Zealand | Wales

New Zealand fly-half Dan Carter will sit out Saturday's match with Wales after failing to recover from a leg injury.

The 30-year-old fly-half, who was named in the All Blacks side earlier this week, pulled up in training on Thursday with "a leg twinge". Aaron Cruden will start the match with Beauden Barrett coming onto the bench to provide cover for the fly-half berth.

Steve Hansen confirmed that Carter will miss the Wales match and revealed that he is a doubt to play England on December 1. "On Thursday he felt his Achilles so we got him scanned," Hansen told the New Zealand Herald. "He had an ultrasound and an MRI this morning and there is a bit of swelling there. He looks like he is a 50-50 chance [of playing the final tour game] so we will just see what happens.

"He is disappointed obviously. The form he is in, when you play as well as he did against Scotland and he didn't participate against Italy, he was really looking forward to playing. This is one of the stadiums that these guys love playing in and an opposition we like playing."

Skipper Richie McCaw also commented saying: "It is something you can't control. It is disappointing for Dan, but the next guy will come in and we will try to give him some good ball to operate with. Aaron has played a few Tests, some pretty big games.

"Dan is a pretty good footballer, 90-something Tests. He is hard to replace, but we've got to get on and have belief in the next guys."

Cruden, 23, has won 18 caps, and he has yet to taste defeat in an All Blacks shirt. He was called into the All Blacks squad during last year's World Cup as replacement for an injured Carter, who damaged his groin during training. Cruden went on to start the All Blacks' semi-final victory over Australia in Auckland, and then started the final against France before he was forced off just before half-time due to a knee problem.

Gutted not to be playing with these boys in this stadium tomorrow #AllBlacksEverything #Millennium instagr.am/p/SYRwbVhWvX/

— Dan Carter (@DanCarter) November 23, 2012