Rugby Union: Let's put Dan in the shade

GAVIN HENSON and James Hook have been told to put All Blacks star Dan Carter in the shade next season - and illuminate themselves as the global rugby stars of the future.

Carter's decision on Friday to spend his six-month sabbatical with Perpignan in France means he will go head-to-head with Henson and Hook when their two teams clash in Europe.

It will be the first time all three players have shared the field since Wales were thrashed 45-10 by the All Blacks in Cardiff in 2006, when Ospreys Hook and Henson came on as replacements.

Since then, Carter has gone on to cement his reputation as the best all-round player in the world, a status only threatened by his own New Zealand skipper Richie McCaw.

It was in a bid to prevent both players joining the growing exodus to Europe that the Kiwis allowed them to have sixmonth stints overseas - starting in November - before they return Down Under next June.

Carter was expected to join Toulouse, Toulon or Biarritz, but his decision to plump for Catalan club Perpignan will plunge him straight into a Heineken Cup pool that includes the Ospreys.

For Ospreys managing director Mike Cuddy - the man who has helped bankroll the big-spending region - it means a chance for his H- bombs to explode.

"Not so long ago people were talking of James Hook being in the same bracket as Carter - and the same goes for Gavin," said Cuddy. "These are topdrawer players who have the confidence to back themselves.

"Carter has shown in the Super 14 and with the All Blacks that he has all the gifts. It will be great for us to come up against a player who is seen as the best in the world.

"But we have our own big names who will relish the prospect of facing him. The likes of Gavin and James, Justin Marshall, Mike Phillips and Lee Byrne are not going to be daunted by the prospect of facing anyone."

The Ospreys reached the quarter-finals of Europe last season, an improvement that was not sufficient to prevent coach Lyn Jones being sacked at the end of the campaign. His assistant Sean Holley has been put in temporary charge but could find himself back in the shadows if the Ospreys whistle up for a coach from the southern hemisphere in the autumn.

By then Carter will be in the process of bidding farewell to the All Blacks after their European Tests - which include Wales - and joining Perpignan for a deal worth around pounds 400,000 for half a year's work.

The four Welsh regions all made tentative enquiries about the 26- year-old earlier this year, but were priced out of the market.

Carter said: "I've played in New Zealand in the Super 14, Super 12 and Tri-Nations competitions for six years now and I think it will be good for me to play in a different competition and a different style of rugby will help me."

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