All Black Dan Carter's surgery 'a success'

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SUCCESS: Dan Carter has undergone successful surgery on an injured ankle.

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All Blacks ace Dan Carter's ankle surgery has been hailed a success and team management are confident he will recover in time for the end-of-season northern hemisphere tour.

Team doctor Deb Robinson said today that Carter had surgery on his right ankle in Christchurch last night and would be discharged from hospital later today.

''I've spoken to both the surgeon and to Dan and the surgeon was really happy with the way things went,'' she said.

''He removed loose bodies from the back of the ankle and he also had one on the inside of the ankle which came out easily as well. He was certainly happy with the way the rest of the joint looked, not too much wear and tear, and also the ligaments were in good condition.

''So, overall we're really pleased with that outcome.''

Robinson said she had spoken to Carter who was ''still in hospital but comfortable''.

''He'll be due to go home at some stage today''.

Carter, 28, had been troubled by pain in the ankle and ''a lack of motion'', caused by ''some loose bodies sitting in the back of the ankle and also a bone spur at the front''.

''Certainly, he had some pain but his main issue was he was starting to loose some flexibility in the ankle which was impacting on the ability of the calf muscle to function properly.''

Robinson said the injury was ''probably affecting his speed and it's his plant foot [when kicking], so we can surmise his kicking mechanics may have been affected a little, but it's hard to measure those things''.

Carter would be in a cast for ''seven to 10 days'', purely as a precaution against infection. But he should be ready to start light cycling on an exercise bike in a fortnight.

Robinson said he should be available for the All Blacks' first test on the end of the season tour, against Australia in Hong Kong on October 30. But it is not yet known if he will be able to play a game before then.

- © Fairfax NZ News