European Champions Cup
Mike Phillips ensures Dan Carter not immune from changing-room jibes
Tom Hamilton
December 14, 2015
© (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

Dan Carter may be World Rugby Player of the Year but he will not be getting any special treatment from his new Racing 92 teammates. Instead, in a team full of experienced internationals, it seems he will be subject to the same level of teasing as everyone else in the changing room.

When Carter arrived in Paris, he received a text message from his new half-back partner Mike Phillips, as revealed in an interview with the Daily Mail, which said: "'Hi Dan. Great news. Finally the world's best nine and 10 are going to play together."

And there was no respite for Carter after his Man of the Match debut against Northampton Saints. When Phillips was asked what it was like to play alongside the star New Zealand fly-half, he responded with more than a touch of tongue-in-cheek: "[It was] probably a bigger experience for him, I think!" But then added: "No, he has been great all week. Obviously he is world-class and he is going to get better and better each training session and each game. It is great for the squad, it is great for us all."

Phillips was then asked about the strapping on Carter's right knee. Again, not missing a beat, the No.9 joked: "It's the money he is on, I think. His back's gone! He's weighing down on one side! Nah, I think he's all right. He's been around, hasn't he? He's getting on."

With a more straight-bat hat on, Phillips said Carter had performed admirably on his debut but added Racing's impressive performance was more than just a one-man show.

"It is going to be tough for him for the next couple of months but he is certainly a quick learner," Phillips said. "Today he was as if as he has been here for a long time. His class showed. Hopefully his French can improve quickly and it will be all good. I've helped him, teaching him the moves. Everyone has helped him. It was a team performance today. It's not about Dan, it is about all the other players as well. It is a squad performance."

Racing will now travel back over to Northampton for the return leg next Friday. The Saints will be looking to put right what went wrong at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir and Phillips is fully aware his team will experience a backlash.

"We were on fire today. We trained well all week, and that is the difference. Our forwards were outstanding, I thought. Our backs behind, Joe [Rokocoko], Casey [Laulala] and Brice [Dulin] were outstanding.

"They were so clinical, and they scored the tries. Still there were a couple of things we could have done better, our composure at certain times, that is something we are going to have to improve on for next week because going away is going to be tough. Maybe they will have a few players coming in as well. We have got to keep our feet on the ground."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Tom Hamilton is the Associate Editor of ESPNscrum.

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