Carter is still the main man, gushes Cup opposite Burns
Dan Carter has ‘‘still got it’’, according to a former England pivot as he prepared to go head to head with the ex-All Blacks ace in their European Champions Cup semifinal clash.
Freddie Burns, from the Leicester Tigers, was set to go head to head with Carter’s French club, Racing 92 in Leicester today.
Burns, who played the last of his five tests in 2014, believes his game has developed under the coaching of Carter’s former Crusaders and All Blacks teammate Aaron Mauger.
But he said Carter would represent the ultimate test.
‘‘To be up against the likes of Carter is something I am excited about and I am relishing going toe to toe with him,’’ Burns told The Guardian.
‘‘I am going to try and enjoy the occasion and play with a smile on my face.’’
Burns, 25, missed his chance to play against Carter in 2014 because the Canterbury man was injured during England’s New Zealand tour.
‘‘I have watched his whole career and he is set apart from everyone else because he is quality week in, week out. He showed in the World Cup he has till got it and he has made a huge impact at Racing.
‘‘It will be a huge test, but I cannot control what he does and he cannot control what I do. What is important for me is that I manage the game well and that a good team performance will get us the right result.’’
Burns missed the first couple of months of the current season with a broken jaw but has played his part in Leicester’s push towards the English Premiership playoffs. The Tigers have also made the European Cup semifinals for the first time in seven years.
Mauger, Leicester’s ’ new head coach, has impressed Burns. ‘‘One of Aaron’s great qualities as a coach is that he challenges the players all of the time, asking questions and getting you thinking.
‘‘As a flyhalf I think that something that’s helped me. He challenges me quite a lot in training which sometimes can run a little bit thin when you’re having your bad days, but on the whole you come out better for it, taking a different look at things.
‘‘He will ask you to be in different positions and you think you cannot be there every time, but when you work a bit harder and get there, the opportunities are almost endless.’’