Scotland stand-off Finn Russell is “loving life” with Racing 92 after his summer move from Glasgow Warriors.

The 26-year-old made the switch in the summer, and he’s not looked back, putting in a string of impressive performances for his new Top 14 club, including two tries and 20 points in a win at Toulon on debut.

Russell said this week: “One of the main reasons why I moved there [was] to challenge myself and as a player and as a person it’s been great, I’m really loving it.”

“Going to Racing, for me as a player, it was great because I had to start pushing myself as the 10 who is the decision-maker and who controls the game. It is great for me and my career. Every time I’ve changed something in my career, it has always made me a better player so going over there and learning a different style of rugby and having to adapt to different situations has been really good for me.”

The 26-year-old said he felt “comfortable” with life at the Warriors. He added: “I was really looking forward to the challenges I was going to have on and off the field. I went there wanting new challenges, but to be honest I did not know what to expect.”

The 2017 British & Irish Lion admits his French is by no means perfect – he’s in the beginners group for the twice-weekly French lessons provided by his new employers – but is using a unique tactic to improve his day-to-day French.

“I got into a phase where I sat in and I’d watch telly or play the PlayStation and order food in and then I thought ‘I better start going out again and eating food’. Because I’m there myself, if I go out and buy all the food to cook, it’s the same price if I go out and eat it – it only costs about €18 to go out for food so by the time I buy everything, if I don’t use it all then it’s a waste.

“I go out just to hear people speak French.”

Russell also revealed the move to Paris has coincided with a change in his diet: “I eat a lot more bread and pasta over there but probably not as many sweets. It’s a different lifestyle which I’m loving just now. I’ve not found it an issue – my weight has actually come down, so I must be doing something right.”

While there are many differences between life in Glasgow and Paris, Russell has found the cultures of both clubs to be similar.

He said: “The culture at the club is really good and it reminds me the one we had at Glasgow, it’s like a family and we are all very close,” continues Finn. “For me it was very easy to fit in, and a lot of guys speak English very well. To chat in English it really helps a lot. It’s been easy for me to settle and basically worry only about rugby. Paris is only just over an hour away from Glasgow so I can come over and see my family relatively easily – and my mum and girlfriend has been over quite a lot.”

Having all-but completed the first half of his first season with Racing 92, the 26-year-old admits he’s not really seen much of his new home city: “I’m there to work and to do my job. If I get a weekend off, I’ll come back here as well.

“When my friends and family are over they go into town and see all the sights but because I’ve usually got a game at the weekend I tend not to go into Paris too much because I need to get ready for the game so if I go into town and walk about for the whole day, I end up tiring myself out. I’ve done it a couple of times and then I’ve felt tired for the games.

“It’s really cool living in Paris but I don’t go that much of it – if my friends and family are over I’d take them in [to Paris] for a nice meal, but that’s usually after the game.”

The former Ayr RFC stand-off admitted joining up with the Scotland squad last month was a different experience given his summer move.

“It’s been good coming back here, meet up with all the boys and it is different now when you leave Paris and you have to pack up for three weeks. Being away from everything and coming back for a few weeks, it keeps you fresh.”

At Glasgow, Adam Hastings has filled the void left by Russell’s departure and the latter insists he will do “everything” he can to help Hastings improve his new international colleague

He added: “I’m competing against him, we’ve got more competition now that Duncy [Weir] is back but at the same time I want to help him [Hastings] as much I can. Competition is great, it doesn’t put you under pressure but forces you to always be your best all the time, not only during the game but in training and do whatever you can to keep the jersey.”

“It’s up to Gregor (Townsend) and it might depend on who you are playing,” replied Russell when asked about the possibility of reuniting with Hastings on the international stage this weekend, as they did for the final 10 minutes of the win over Fiji last Saturday.

“Last week I only played 10 minutes inside centre, but when I started playing at Glasgow I was a 12 so I have no problems. for me it’s less pressure, you have more time to organise things and get everything right so I just try to organise everything I can because, as a 10, I know what my outside guys expect from me and want to make it as easy as I can for them.”