The fanatical intimacy of 14,600 spectators packing Stade Aime Giral for the visit of Leicester is the backdrop to the most intimidating afternoon of Dan Carter’s career since New Zealand lost to France in the World Cup last year. The All Black fly-half, who described the welcome he received when visiting Perpignan in September as “surreal”, will find an earthy east Midlands realism coming at him in the shape of the Tigers pack. Without the benefit of the best team in the world around him, rugby’s most polished gem could be the glaring weakness in the Perpignan side.

While Leicester are formidable opponents, Carter has the talent to handle whatever is thrown at him, although language might be an adversary too big for the laid-back New Zealander, who trained with the team for the first time on Monday. That was a get-to-know-you session, but on Tuesday the business should have been more serious. Another defeat and Perpignan are out of the competition two rounds early. Yet Carter, the pivot of the team, smiled his way through the workout and said not a single word.

“A little bit like starting school,” is how he describes the build-up to this match. “Meeting new players, learning names, even buying groceries is not easy.” The man who more than anybody else makes rugby look an easy game to play is understandably struggling. He described himself, with considerable understatement, as “pretty quiet at training. It is tough and will take a few weeks, [there are] lots of new calls, they do things differently here”.

Everybody from the town’s mayor to Paul Goze, the owner of the club, expects miracles, or at the very least the championship of France. “He is the No 1 player in the world in his position and that confirms our ambition to finally bring the shield [the French championship] to the foot of the Castillet [a Perpignan landmark],” says Goze. He admits the Heineken Cup is out of the side’s hands but they are “going all out to beat Leicester and have no regrets”.

The French title looks a more realistic target, enabling Carter to settle into the fold while his teammates keep the side somewhere near the third position they currently hold. But Carter chose Perpignan over the extra wealth of Toulon for the chance to play in the Heineken Cup. I spoke to many of the All Blacks in June about the Ireland team they were about to face and most of them were more interested in the incredible atmosphere for the Munster-Toulouse final. It infected Carter, who admitted that when he decided to play in Europe for seven months he wanted “to test myself against the best Europe can offer”. That dream is 80 minutes from becoming an unfulfilled nightmare.

Leicester’s coach, Heyneke Meyer, thinks the hype surrounding Carter could work in Leicester’s favour. He talks of the considerable pressure on the home side to perform and adds: “A player like Dan Carter will be expected to win the game on his own.” Nobody wins a game singlehandedly but players have been known to blow a game on their own, which brings us back to Carter and the problem of language.

Anybody who has watched a professional group of rugby players train will testify to the startling cacophony of a defensive session. It is deafening, everyone is screaming encouragement and orders at everyone else. It is an outdoor equivalent of GCHQ with the constant sound of urgent chatter. Communication plugs the holes every bit as much as the leading tackler’s shoulder. There is no great likelihood of Carter’s tackling technique being found wanting, but without a decent working command of the language he is bound to be late reacting to the readjustments in the defensive line.

If his old Canterbury and New Zealand midfield partner Aaron Mauger can pick the same sort of late angle he did to score last Saturday, there is every chance Carter is going to be found missing at the scene of the tackle. Language is going to be as big a problem for him as he normally is for England. His lack of French is Leicester’s 16th man, to counter the partisan home support.

Even the devoted supporters are a paradoxical problem for Carter. At the end of Tuesday’s training session, 50 or so of the 200 who turned up to watch Carter ease through his paces stayed behind to “ooh” at every practice kick that bisected the posts and “aah” at every miss. In the end most of the Perpignan team took up the kicker’s art and “oohed” and “aahed” each other to take the spotlight off Carter.

The world’s best fly-half admits to being “pretty nervous kicking in practice”. And perhaps not just because of the local issues. He did not strike the ball with his clockwork consistency on the recent New Zealand tour. Against England he missed five from 11 and most of them were comfortable kicks. His body shape was awful that day. Kickers like to hold a shape like the letter “J” at the moment of impact but Carter was curling up like a “C”. If he misses a few sitters this afternoon, the supporters will forgive the man who has been primarily signed - whatever he thinks of the Heineken Cup - to deliver the club’s first French title since 1955, though not for long.

The money rumours are flying around the rugby world; approaching £600,000 for seven months or £30,000 a game seem to be the most accurate figures. At those prices he cannot afford to miss many kicks or tackles. The miracles can wait a week or two but not the basics, yet there are myriad reasons to think those basics will not come immediately.

The fly-half calls French club rugby “forward orientated”, a polite description of the frequent grind in the Gallic game. He cannot change that overnight but Perpignan pray, and Leicester fear, that those forwards will provide enough quick ball to let his instinctive genius take over. Carter is not yet ready to tell Perpignan what to do but he is brilliant enough to show them. 30,000
The fee, in pounds sterling, that Dan Carter will pocket per match during his seven months at Perpignan - earning him close to £600,000. The figure dwarfs other high earners, led by Byron Kelleher, who is on £480,000 for a full year’s work