This is getting to be a habit. Toby Flood will have met the world’s best player in New Zealand’s South Island, at Twickenham, and now on the shores of the Mediterranean, all within six months. So far the balance has tilted only one way – towards Dan Carter, the All Blacks’ fly half who makes his debut for Perpignan against Leicester tomorrow in the Heineken Cup.

There are 3½ years, 37 caps and a hatful of international points (839, to be precise) between Carter and Flood but not a lot in terms of attitude. Carter sat in the Welford Road stands last week, watching Flood and Leicester impose themselves on his new club colleagues up front, getting a feel for the nature of European rugby as opposed to the Super rugby he has played for the Crusaders.

Tomorrow at Stade Aimé Giral he will begin to earn his corn but Flood now has a genuine feel for what makes Carter tick. They opposed each other - for a half-hour at least, until Flood was removed after a collision with Richard Kahui – in Christch-urch in June, when New Zealand won 44-12 and Carter scored a try, converted every kick and came away with 22 points.

They met again a fortnight ago when the All Blacks won 32-6, Carter scored 17 points and Flood was one of three England players sent to the sin-bin. But a week ago was Flood’s time, his 23 points against Perpignan included a try. He has settled into a Leicester side going tolerably well under the coaching of Heyneke Meyer while Carter, for the first time in his life, leaves behind the embrace of the Canterbury and New Zealand “family” with which he is so familiar.

“I feel like a little boy starting school, meeting new players, having to learn names, sorting out a house,” Carter said in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports this week. “Even simple things, like buying the groceries, are not easy here but I’m really enjoying it. I’ll stick at it and hopefully it will get easier.

“I didn’t know much about Perpignan. I just looked it up on the internet, it’s a down-to-earth lifestyle they have here on the beach, pretty relaxed, and that was a big influence for me. I hope I get immersed in the French culture, learn the language, because I don’t really know anyone here so I’m out of my comfort zone.”

These are the things Flood did last summer, moving from Newcastle Falcons to Leicester, but at least he knew the language. It is not easy; he admits he tried too hard to impress his new employers in the first few games but that conforms to his belief that he has the responsibility for bringing his team into the game as early as possible. “I was brought up in a playing environment which encouraged you to be a threat, to try to make something of every situation, not just sit in the pocket,” Flood, 23, said. “When you have players like Aaron Mauger, Dan Hipkiss, Geordan Murphy to use, great players of whom opponents are wary, that leaves space on the inside and I hope I have the ability to capital-ise on that.”

Just as Carter grew up in Christch-urch in the shadow of Andrew Mehrtens, so Flood has learnt his trade alongside Jonny Wilkinson, from whom he learnt assurance. “The main thing with Jonny is that he is so rarely flustered or taken aback,” Flood said. “When he has to make a tackle, make a kick, put someone into space, it’s always spot-on. And you realise that no matter how much talent you have, the most important thing is how hard you work. You may have 50 per cent of the talent of the guy standing next to you but if you work twice as hard, you make up the difference.”

He and Carter exchanged the usual chitchat after the Twickenham match and Flood is happy to express his admiration for the older player.

“He can kick, run, pass but most important of all is his decision-making,” Flood said. “Nine times out of ten he makes the right decision and even when he doesn’t, he carries it out to the limit and makes it seem as though it was the right thing to do. That comes with time. Two weekends ago he might have been a bit disappointed with his performance against England, he seemed to think it had not gone his way, and that’s the mark of a player who believes he has a lot more to give.

“A lot of fly halves offer a passing threat or a kicking threat but he can pass, kick and run. You know sometimes what he’s likely to do but because he plays so flat, he’s always dangerous. In the blink of an eye there’s the left-foot step, the right-hand fend and he’s away.”