16 Oct 2008

Marshall says Carter will get a reality check in France

7:56 am on 16 October 2008

The former All Black halfback Justin Marshall has warned his former team-mate Daniel Carter that his transition into French rugby is likely to be a bumpy ride.

Carter will join Top 14 and Heineken Cup side Perpignan in December for a highly lucrative six-month sabbatical, but Marshall says it will be far from a holiday for the famous first-five.

Marshall joined Montpellier, another club on the French South coast, at the start of the season after moving from Welsh region Ospreys.

Marshall says first of all you've got to meet the players, you don't know anybody, you don't know who likes to play golf or who likes to go for a coffee.

He added that you don't know the way they play the game, you don't know their training, there's the language barrier and so it will be a reality check for him.