Letters from France: Ongoing mayhem as Les Gilets Jaunes protesters refuse to play ball amid turmoil in France

It’s tipping past 9pm on Saturday night and there are still about 15 Agen supporters hanging outside the back of the stand at Stade Pierre Fabre in Castres. There’s only a metre or two between the door from the dressing rooms and where the Agen team bus is parked up, engine running and the doors of the undercarriage wide open to take the gear bags.

Agen, hovering with relegation since the season started but, thankfully for them, with Perpignan in a worse plight below them, they have just beaten the French champions in their own backyard.