19 Apr 2016

All Blacks and Carter win Laureus awards

11:21 am on 19 April 2016

The All Blacks have won team of the year and Dan Carter the comeback of the year award at the Laureus International Sports awards in Berlin.

The All Blacks headed off football Champions League winners Barcelona, NBA winners the Golden State Warriors, the Great Britain Davis Cup tennis team, the Mercedes Formula One team and United States women's football team.

Retired All Black captain Richie McCaw, coach Steve Hansen and the Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew were in Berlin for the award ceremony, and Mr Tew said it was an impressive occasion.

"Richie and Steve went up on stage and took the award and spoke on behalf of the team and did a very good job and they're fronting a million media requests as we speak - this is a big, big event."

Richie McCaw with the All Blacks Laureus team award.

Richie McCaw with the All Blacks Laureus team award. Photo: Photosport

The All Blacks became the first team to win back-to-back Rugby World Cups and the first to win the competition three times, led by coach Steve Hansen and captain McCaw, who retired afterwards as the most capped player in Test history.

This is the sixth time the All Blacks have been nominated for the award.

"When you think about the context in which you get it...it's obviously pretty exciting being at the top of the rugby tree but to be picked out of all these other teams in the world is pretty special," said McCaw.

As he went up to receive the award on the team's behalf McCaw said he felt quite intimiated as he looked down to see world tennis number one Novak Djokovic and formula one world champion Lewis Hamilton sitting there.

Carter who missed much of the 2011 Rugby World Cup with an injury, won Comeback of the Year award. He had struggled with injury problems but went on to be named player of the match in the 2015 World Cup final win.

Dan Carter and family with the World Cup

Dan Carter and family with the World Cup Photo: Photosport

Carter beat five other contenders for the award: American skier Lindsey Vonn, Kenyan runner David Rudisha, American swimmer Michael Phelps, Australian surfer Mick Fanning and English heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill.

"It's nice to be recognised for the year I had in 2015. It was a very special year, not only for me, but also for the All Blacks and to be a part of that was amazing," Carter said.

The Laureus awards began in 2000 and celebrate the achievements from across the sporting world.

The Awards Ceremony consists of seven categories Sportsman and Sportswomen of the Year, Team of the Year, Comeback of the Year, Breakthrough of the Year, Action Sportsperson of the Year, Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.

Proceeds from the Awards underpin the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation which supports over 150 community projects in several countries.

Winners receive a Laureus statuette, made by Cartier, with its representation of the striving human form against an engraved representation of the continents.