Toulouse make an amazing £750,000 bid to get Carter

Dan Carter is being offered the biggest contract in world rugby — £750,000 from Toulouse for one year's work in the French Top 14 championship.

The bid, doubling the highest salaries in the English game paid to fellow All Blacks Carl Hayman, at Newcastle, and Luke McAlister, at Sale, will outstrip any from the most ambitious British clubs including the Ospreys, who have been in talks with Carter's financial advisers.

The All Blacks can't compete with an offer which will treble his salary and are increasingly resigned to losing their most valuable player when his contract runs out at the end of their European tour in November.

The only question is whether the 26-year-old fly half signs for Toulouse or Toulon, the Second Division promotion contenders run by ex-All Black captain Tana Umaga. Money has been no object to them under the presidency of Mourad Boudjellal.

Any All Black playing outside New Zealand automatically forfeits his right to Test status but Carter can exploit his fame in Europe for 18 months and still be back in ample time for the 2011 World Cup. A season and a half in Toulouse would earn him more than £1million.

Another leading All Black, Wellington back row forward Jerry Collins, has warned that he will join the overseas exodus once his Wellington contract expires at the end of next year.

One of the problems of staying in New Zealand was highlighted in a review into the country's World Cup failure which said players with top clubs spend 180 nights — almost half a year — away from home in any season compared to no more than two nights away from home at any one time with a European club.

Scotland's first Test against Argentina on June 7 will be played at the Gigante de Arroyito stadium in Rosario with the second Test a week later at the Velez Sarsfield stadium in Buenos Aires.