Flair to the point of recklessness having been his trademark from an early age, the picture painted of a young man spending unaccustomed periods of solitude in a foreign land where he is struggling to understand the language and failing to appreciate the wonders which surround him might have seemed a cause for concern.

Well, it might, had the individual in question not been Finn Russell.

A tortured soul, pining away in an austere Parisian garret Racing 92’s new recruit is not.

The 26-year-old is, as he typically cheerfully describes it, merely adjusting to the challenges he was looking for on opting to quit Glasgow Warriors, in favour of a big money move to the French capital.

“Life’s good. I’m loving it over there in France. It’s very different, but that’s one of the main reasons I went, the challenges and the differences. For me as a player and a person it’s been great.”

To date, however, the experience has not extended to a full appreciation of his environment it seems, explaining that: “I am there to do a job. I haven’t seen that much of Paris yet.

“When family and friends are over they see the sights and go into town, but if I have a game to get ready for I don’t really go with them. Walking around for a full day you can tire yourself out before a game,” he pointed out.

Girlfriend Emma and mum Sally have been among the most regular visitors and he reckons at no point has he been on his own for more than a week to 10 days since making the move in the summer.

As he outlined how he spends the time when he is left to his own devices, there were sufficient mentions of one particular game console on which he is perfecting his skills to raise suspicions that a sponsorship deal has been struck or is being pursued.

However, for all that the general impression he has given down the years of being a gregarious, life-and-soul of the party sort, he claims to be enjoying his own company.

“Back in Glasgow there was always people in the flat with Ali [Price], my wee sister and Emma being there most nights. Being over there it is good to have my own space and do what I want to do,” he said.

“I am just at a different stage of life and I think it is good because I can worry about me and what I need to do to get things right for training or the match at the weekend.”

There are no signs that it has been in any way detrimental to his rugby so far, a highly promising start to his career in the Top 14 followed by last Saturday’s triumphant return to the Scottish scene, pulling the strings as revenge was gained in full for the national team’s shock defeat in Fiji last year.

He is more than happy to go along with the view that the move to the more structured French approach has been and will be good for the development of his game.

“Me going to Racing was great for me because I had to establish myself as a player at 10, the decision maker who controls the game. For me to go and establish myself was great for myself and my career. I’ve had to do it a few times before. Learning a slightly different style of rugby and adapt to new situations has been good for me, “ he observed.

“I had to establish myself, I still am trying to, but a lot of that is to do with language. I can’t always get my point across as I want because the bits of French I have are basic.

“For me as a rugby player I have been working hard on doing the basics well like passing and kicking so it makes it easier for the boys to feed off me. I am still settling in as a player and the guys are still getting used to me and the things I do that might have been more natural at Glasgow. It is up to me to do the basics well.

“The culture’s been really good. It’s kind of similar to Glasgow, all the boys are really close like a family. For me, it’s been easy to fit in and a lot of the boys speak good English as well. I’m trying to learn French, but being able to chat to them in English helps a lot. It’s been easy to settle in and just worry about the rugby.

“I don’t think even if I had had a bad start they would have said ‘get him out, get someone else in’ because they are a great bunch of boys and with the coaches and the owner it is a community/family orientated club and that takes a bit of pressure off as everyone has your back.”

Somehow one senses that he would have coped just fine even if that had not been the case since, as he always has, Russell gives the impression of being a man who is very much at ease with himself, happy to do things his own way and live with the decisions he has made, which in turn bodes well for those around him, on and off the field.