Two hours after thumbing his nose at the law, Sonny Bill Williams was sitting at a portside cafe in a town outside Toulon.
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At his table sat Anthony Mundine and their manager, Khoder Nasser.
They didn't talk about Williams's performance in his rugby debut. Mundine was doing all the chatting.
"I'm commentating on Solomon Haumono's fight at the end of the month," he said. Williams replied: "You commentate on most of your fights anyway, Anthony, so it shouldn't be hard for you."
Williams was tired but in good spirits. He had just played his first game of rugby - on the wing - in front of a packed ground and was the star of the match, even if he did get yellow-carded in the pre-season friendly against Carqueiranne-Hyeres for putting one of his trademark shoulder charges on an opponent. His victim said the hit felt "like an electrocution". Playing in contravention of a NSW Supreme Court injunction, Williams's one-handed offloads and Harlem Globetrotter-like ball skills had French fans enthralled.
Of course, Williams still has a way to go in the new code, especially with his tackling - shoulder charges are illegal in rugby. Still, it was clear Williams had found favour in France.
Five television cameras and 13 photographers all jostled for Sonny Bill shots. He arrived at the ground separately from his teammates in an attempt to avoid being served a subpoena. Reports that suggested Williams had thrown a court order over the fence after it had been handed to him at training were not true - which teammates, officials and reporters who were there can attest.
Toulon's owner, Mourad Boudjellal, later held a press conference where he was peppered with questions about the legal issues of Williams playing and the perception he might be showing contempt for Australian law. But Boudjellal laughed off suggestions of Williams being arrested.
