Carter in action for Perpignan against Bourgoin in their Top 14 clash last weekend © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Dan Carter | James Hook

Tournaments/Tours: Heineken Cup | Heineken Cup

Teams: France | Ospreys | Perpignan | Wales

Perpignan fly-half Dan Carter has hailed his Ospreys rival James Hook as "one of the best 10s in the world" ahead of their crucial Heineken Cup Pool 3 clash at Stade Aime Giral on Saturday.

Carter announced his arrival in the tournament with a Heineken Cup man of the match award winning performance against Leicester Tigers last month and now gets a second taste of a competition that he believes has all the intensity of the Super 14. And the teams suffered mixed fortunes at the weekend, the Ospreys going down 25-21 at home to Munster and conceding top spot in the Magners League while Perpignan blitzed Bourgoin 40-14 to cement themselves in third spot in the Top 14.

"James Hook is a great player and he has shown on occasions just what he's really capable of - he's got real talent and is capable of turning games," said Carter, who has rattled up 879 points in 59 Tests for New Zealand. "He is very skilful and a huge attacking player and I am looking forward to lining up against him again. We've played against each other a couple of times and now he has got a bit of international experience behind him which I'm sure he'll draw on for this game.

"On top of that, with the Six Nations a couple of weeks out I'm sure he's going to be looking to get some individual form going. You always want to play against the guys who are best in their position and he's definitely up there as one of the best 10s."

Perpignan's knock-out stages fate rests entirely in others hands, both in and out of their own Pool, with the Ospreys top of the group on 15 points and only a superior overall points difference of 80-55 edging them ahead of Leicester Tigers. The French club are six points adrift in third place.

Perpignan have lost both their matches on the road so far - 15-9 against the Ospreys and 38-27 against the Tigers - but have extended their current winning home run to 14 tournament matches. The Tigers meet Benetton Treviso at Welford Road on Saturday with the 2001 and 2002 Heineken Cup winners' trip to Wales to meet the Ospreys in Round 6 set to be a huge occasion and potential group decider.

"Saturday's match is obviously a must-win game for us and Perpignan are definitely a competitive side for this competition, we've got a lot of depth in our squad which has really impressed me," said Carter, who was withdrawn from the action against Bourgoin at half-time in a precautionary move to protect his inflamed Achilles tendon.

"I will have some tests tomorrow (Monday, 12 January) and then will decide, with the staff, if it will be better for me to have a few days off training as after half an hour against Bourgoin I started to feel some pain and we decided I would come off at half-time. So far I haven't had a good look at the Ospreys as a team but just looking at the individual internationals in their side - and their results in both the Heineken Cup and Magners League - show what a quality side they have.

"I am really looking forward to playing against them because as a player you always want to pit yourself against the best and they are certainly a quality side. They have real threats all over the field and we are putting everything into this game. We were disappointed to have lost to them earlier in the season but now is the time where we have to dig deep and we know the crowd will really get behind us

"And the fans in Perpignan are unbelievable - we know there is going to be a very charged atmosphere on Saturday. The fans want the best for the team and want us to win every match. It's new for me and a particularly European thing for the crowd to be effectively a 16th player and it's something I'm really enjoying.

"To play in an atmosphere like that is a new experience for me and it's one of the things I really love about European rugby. Supporters in New Zealand are great but they are far more conservative than those over here."

The return to full fitness of wing Shane Williams, the IRB 2008 Player of the Year, and scrum half Mike Phillips have provided tremendous boosts for the Ospreys but Carter is warning that he is now well aware of what the Heineken Cup is all about.

"The build up to Saturday's Heineken Cup game is pretty different to the last one," said Carter. "I was thrown straight into the action and, despite probably being as nervous before the game against Leicester Tigers as I've been for any international, I really enjoyed just getting out there and playing. It was similar in standard to the Super 14 in terms of the intensity and I feel ready for this weekend's game now. I've settled in much more into both the team and the squad and feel very comfortable playing as part of the Perpignan set-up.

"I felt it was really a step up from what I'd been playing in the previous couple of weeks and any club rugby. I know I'm likely to get targeted - as much because of my position as anything else - but I've got players with great hands outside me to shift the ball to them which takes a lot of pressure off me.

"I feel my performances have been improving steadily since I got here but I still feel I need more time to keep working on my game and get myself fully adapted to the style that they play here but at least people are starting to understand my accent when I call moves!"