Dan Carter voted rugby player of the decade

Former All Black first-five Dan Carter has been named World Rugby's player of the decade.

All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw and Dan Carter hold the 2015 trophy aloft. Photo: Photosport

Carter beat former New Zealand captain Richie McCaw in the final.

There were 16-players up for the honour, and fans voted over a week on head to head clashes to determine the ultimate winner.

View this post on Instagram

And the winner is... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Congratulations @dancarter_! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The fans’ player of the decade, as voted by all of you in our stories last week - thanks to everyone who took part!

A post shared by World Rugby (@worldrugby) on Dec 23, 2019 at 3:04am PST

All Black halfback Aaron Smith, first-five Beauden Barrett and outgoing captain Kieran Read were also in the mix.

Carter won World Cups in 2011 and 2015, playing a staring role in the latter after many had written him off as past his prime.

The 37-year-old played 112 tests, winning 99 of them, after debuting in 2003.

A reliable goal-kicker, he has a world record 1598 test points.

Carter is also a three-time Super Rugby champion.