Two minutes into the second half, and Les Gaz showed he still had it.

Former St George Illawarra star Mark Gasnier, playing for French rugby side Stade Francais Paris, pulled out the trade mark 'shimmy shimmy woosh' and blew past eight defenders on a 30-metre run to the line to score under the posts.

Les Gaz! came the shots from the crowd, as the Australian star playing at outside centre put his side ahead 17-9.

It was a game they would eventually win 23-18 over French rivals SC Albigeois at the Stade Jean Bouin in Paris, a venue similar to Melbourne's Olympic Park with its athletics track distancing the players from the 12,000 seats.

The ground was three quarters full, all coming along to cheer their young side missing many of their best players who were away on international duty.

In an effort to perhaps make the former NSW and Test regular feel at home, a drum-ladden posse in the crowd soon whipped into a version of "When the Saints go marching in", the music as familiar as the words foreign to this reporter.

Deprived of much ball in the first half, Gasnier showed all the skill that made him a star in the 13-man game over the second 40.

With every touch of the ball he confused the defence, but a penchant for the penalty goal from both sides curbed the attacking instincts of the outside backs.

With his side clinging to a five-point lead with only 10 minutes left on the clock, Gasnier was for some reason switched to the wing, the home side negating the impact of their best attacking weapon on the night.

"He plays good," a fan sitting in the front row said in broken English.

"He is still learning but he plays good, very fast."

For his part, Gasnier said he was enjoying the experience of playing a new sport in a new country, but he was quick to hose down any talk about his future, be it in Australia or France.

"I'm enjoying it over here and just adapting to the new rules," he said.

"But I haven't decided anything on my future just yet."