Dan Carter was in the midfield as his Racing 92 club started the new French Top 14 season with a comeback win.

Dan Carter has shifted to second-five as speculation increases of his Racing 92 club signing Springboks playmaker Pat Lambie.

The 35-year-old Carter is in his final season of a record three-year deal with the glamour Paris club.

The former All Blacks star helped Racing 92 get away to a winning start to their new Top 14 campaign.

Cater kicked two conversions and two penalties as Racing came back to beat Castres Olympique 25-21 with Louis Dupichot scoring a late try for victory.

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But Carter worked his magic wearing a No 12 jersey as Racing had French international Remi Tales at first-five.

Racing are on the lookout for fresh talent at pivot and talk of Lambie joining them ramped up over the weekend.

South African newspaper Rapport reported that Lambie had now requested an early release from his joint contract with the South African union and the Sharks. He still has two years left on those deals.

Lambie hasn't played since May when he suffered another concussion during Super Rugby.

The last of his 56 tests was in June last year when his concussion issues started in a heavy hit while playing against Ireland.

Lambie is a versatile player who can play at 10, 12 or fullback but his preferred role is at first-five. Speculation has been rife that he has already signed with Racing 92 and only the paperwork in South Africa needs to be completed.

Meanwhile, another former All Blacks No 10, Aaron Cruden, made his Top 14 debut for Montpellier. Cruden started in the 48-19 win over Agen where Montpellier ran in seven tries.

And former Blues and New Zealand under-20 first-five Simon Hickey kicked five penalties as his Bordeaux Begles side upset champions Clermont 32-25.

There was no sign of former All Blacks lock Jason Eaton as his La Rochelle club opened their campaign with a 19-10 win over Brive.

Eaton was last week caught up in allegations of a street brawl in La Rochelle.