Duncan Casey: In France, what you get up to in your spare time is irrelevant as long as you do the business on the pitch

The attitude to smoking is the perfect illustration of how French rugby still has one foot planted in the amateur era. Even at the top level, French rugby still doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s more relaxed.

SOAKING IT UP: La Rochelle prop Uini Atonio celebrate their semi-final win over Leinster with fans outside the Stade Marcel Deflandre.

The strangest thing about France? The smoking. Every second person has a fag in their mouth. It was quite a shock, coming from the place that pioneered the smoking ban, to see so many people suck gleefully on a cigarette as they went about their business. Something as trivial as professional rugby didn’t get in the way of this obsession with tobacco either.

Some of the funniest stories from my time in France involve smoking. I recall one home match against Toulouse which I watched from the stand, having been left out of the 23. After a narrow loss, I made my way around the stadium to the dressing room for the debrief. As I arrived, I spotted one of the Toulouse props standing outside a fire exit, topless and barefoot, puffing away happily as he conversed with some of the travelling support.