News that Dan Carter ended the 2010 Tri Nations campaign by breaking Jonny Wilkinson's Test points scoring record was a little misleading.
Wilkinson still has a 60-point lead on Carter, and may extend his total beyond the 1178 he has already achieved during the Six Nations to be played early next year.
What Carter did do was pass Wilkinson's total of points for England which stands at 1111.
But Wilkinson has also played six matches for the British and Irish Lions and has scored 67 points in those games which keep him ahead of the New Zealand ace.
What the statistics do show is that Carter has been involved on the winning side in 89.18 percent of his 74 Test matches. That is the best winning percentage among the players who rank among the top 50 for the world and for the All Blacks in terms of appearances. He is literally the world's winning-est player.
Richie McCaw is close behind at 88.63 but Carter is still the winning-est All Black.
And among the first five-eighths in the world game no-one has scored more tries than Carter with his 28. Matt Giteau also has 28 but many of his games were played at second five-eighths.
Nobody in Test rugby has landed more conversions than Carter with his 192.
And his scoring percentage per game makes him clearly the best performer among the highest 10 points scorers in Test rugby.
The list reads:
Highest average points per Test
Dan Carter (NZ) 1118 points (74 Tests) 15.10
Andrew Mehrtens (NZ) 967 (70) 13.81
Jonny Wilkinson (Eng/Lions) 1178 (86) 13.69
Diego Dominguez (Arg) 1010 (76) 13.28
Michael Lynagh (Aus) 911 (72) 12.65
Neil Jenkins (Wales/Lions) 1090 (91) 11.97
Matt Burke (Aus) 878 (81) 10.83
Ronan O'Gara (Ire/Lions) 963 (101) 9.53
Stephen Jones (Wales/Lions) 868 (97) 8.94
Percy Montgomery (S Africa) 893 (102) 8.75
Highest average for New Zealand
(More than 10 Tests)
Dan Carter 1118 points (74 Tests) 15.10
Grant Fox 645 (46) 14.02
Tony Brown 171 (18) 9.5
Carlos Spencer 291 (35) 8.31
Fergi McCormick 121 (16) 7.56
DB Clarke 207 (31) 6.67
Luke McAlister 153 (30) 5.1
Leon MacDonald 141 (56) 2.51
Kieran Crowley 105 (19) 5.52
It is worth noting that of all players Simon Culhane has the best average per match with 114 points in six Tests averaging 19 per Test.
Carter's class has been evident on the field throughout his career but that statistics show that when it comes to points scoring he is the most gifted individual the game has seen. The fact that he sits ninth on the list of all-time New Zealand Test try scorers is further evidence that he is not just a goal-kicking machine.
Top 10 All Blacks try scorers
Doug Howlett 49 (62 Tests)
Christian Cullen 46 (58)
Joe Rokocoko 46 (66)
Jeff Wilson 44 (60)
Jonah Lomu 37 (63)
Tana Umaga 36 (74)
John Kirwan 35 (63)
Mils Muliaina 29 (88)
Dan Carter 28 (74)
Sitiveni Sivivatu 27 (43)