Heineken Cup lures Carter to Perpignan
The All Blacks fly-half will join the club at the start of December, after New Zealand’s autumn internationals, on a seven-month contract worth a reported €700,000.
Carter wants to improve as a player during his brief stay in the south of France and he believes playing in Europe’s elite competition, which kicks off in the second week of October, will allow him to do that.
When asked why he had chosen to go to Perpignan, he said: “Firstly because Perpignan are playing in the Heineken Cup.
“It is a competition I have followed closely on the television and which I have a great respect for.
“For me, the chance to compete in the Heineken Cup is a real source of motivation.
“I have spoken to Scott Robertson (the former All Blacks flanker) who played there. He told me about the positive aspects of this club and of life there.
“But what really attracted me first off was the possibility of playing in the Heineken Cup, against the best teams in the northern hemisphere.”
Carter is currently in Perpignan, where he has completed the formalities of his transfer and met his new team-mates and club officials.
He will now look for accommodation for when he comes back here in December, before flying to England tomorrow and returning to New Zealand on Thursday.
Perpignan are regular participants in the Heineken Cup but are not one of the stand-out teams in France.
Toulouse, Stade Francais, Biarritz and now Clermont-Auvergne are arguably the four leading clubs in the Top 14 and Perpignan will be hoping to make that step up when they have Carter in their ranks.
But Carter warned: “I am not coming here to try to be a super hero. I am going to try to come quietly into the team, and bring them a little more.
“I think it is important I embrace the Catalan culture. Many people have told me that some players have had trouble adapting when they come to play in France. So I hope this first visit will allow me to have an easier period of transition for when I return in December.”
Perpignan are in Pool Three in the Heineken Cup, with Leicester, Benetton Treviso and the Ospreys.
Carter’s first match in the competition should be Perpignan’s visit to Leicester on December 6.
* Toulouse scrum-half Byron Kelleher has been voted the Top 14’s player of the season for the 2007/08 campaign.
The New Zealander had an outstanding first season at Toulouse, helping them to the French title while they also made it to the final of the Heineken Cup, where they lost to Munster at the Millennium Stadium.
* Connacht have been boosted by the return from injury of winger Mike Roberts and lock Michael Swift for their trip to the Arms Park on Friday evening (7.10pm) to take on Cardiff Blues.
Roberts will make his competitive debut for Connacht when he starts on the left-wing.
Swift returns to the side having missed the 15-8 victory over Glasgow at the weekend and will partner Andrew Browne in the second row.
Johnny O’Connor, introduced as a replacement against Glasgow having recovered from injury, which kept him out of the first two Magners League games of the season, will start in the back row.
Gavin Duffy, Keith Matthews and Ray Ofisa were not considered due to injuries picked up in the win over Glasgow .
* Wales star Gavin Henson is set to make his long-awaited comeback for the Ospreys on Saturday.
Henson has been named in a 23-man squad ahead of the Magners League clash against Liberty Stadium visitors Ulster.
An ankle injury means the Wales and Lions centre has not played since Ospreys crashed out of last season’s Heineken Cup when they were beaten by quarter-final opponents Saracens in April.
CONNACHT: F Carr; A Wynne, J Hearty, M Deane, M Roberts; A Dunne, F Murphy; J Lyne, A Flavin, R Morris; A Browne, M Swift; J Muldoon (C), J O’Connor, C Rigney.
Replacements: S Cronin, R Loughney, A Farley, M McCarthy, K Campbell, I Keatley, L Bibo.
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