Opinion: Carter example in addressing sport and alcohol problem

By Professor Steve Stannard.

So Dan Carter gets done for driving under the influence in France, allegedly caught drink-driving by police last Wednesday night, reportedly with a blood alcohol level of 0.98g per litre - above the legal limit of 0.5g.

Media are quoting a French rugby journalist who said he "understood Carter drank around four glasses of red wine at a dinner with his club and was not on a big night out when he was stopped by police for speeding on the Champs-Elysées in Paris".

Carter handles the situation with an honest apology and humility, affirming what we know of the man he is. Social media even sparkles with comments like "So Dan is human after all" and "Shows he's just a normal Kiwi guy".

I don't think anyone would argue with either sentiment, especially since normal Kiwi guys also have a tendency to drink too much on occasion. "Normal Kiwi guys" also play rugby and in New Zealand, rugby and alcohol go together. And therein lies our problem.

Now it's good that we look up to Carter and other sports stars because they're good buggers and they make great role models, but let's not let starry eyes or friendly journalists of the rugby persuasion clothe an issue that we desperately need to address.

Carter had dinner, and we can assume that's taken around two hours from when he's had his first drink to when he's been caught speeding.

By all reports, he weighs in at around 97 kilograms and is leaner than the average guy. At least that's what the underpants adverts seem to suggest. Which means his body-water percentage is up over 60 per cent.

Using the well known "Widmark" formula for calculating blood alcohol level, we can estimate Carter has consumed around eight standard drinks over two hours. Probably more if he's filled his belly with French cuisine.

So, unless of course he's skulled a cheap takeaway and une bouteille de vin in the space of an hour (unlikely in Paris…), he's probably had a good eight or more standard drinks over dinner with his rugby friends.

Now it's certainly possible that Carter did have only four glasses, but perhaps big French ones, not the smaller portions we have here. But it shouldn't be forgotten, speeding and that level of alcohol are doubly dangerous, and that's how it should be reported.

Not the "… only four glasses of red wine" bit which makes it sound like that tipple after you've finally put the kids to bed.

Carter is taking the rap like a man, so what's the problem? It's that we too easily justify drunken behaviour in and around sport.

Statements following some alcohol-related trouble like, "He only had a few drinks" more often than not are code for, "Sure he's been on a bender, but he's a good lad."

Yet research clearly shows that New Zealand men and women involved in team sport are likely to drink alcohol in a dangerous pattern. The results are so often injurious, physically as well as socially to the drinker and those around.

Let's cut the crap and man up about our sport and alcohol problem in New Zealand and take the rap. Like Carter has done.

Professor Steve Stannard is a Professor of Exercise Physiology at Massey University.