President of France Emmanuel Macron joined in with Toulouse’s celebrations by downing a bottle of Corona lager.

The sport-loving politician was present in Paris for the Top 14 final as Toulouse left it late to deny La Rochelle a Heineken Champions Cup and domestic league double courtesy of Romain Ntamack’s sensational late try.

Footage has now emerged of Macron visiting the winning side’s changing room and answering calls to see off a bottle of beer – which he did in 17 seconds to rapturous cheers of appreciation from players, staff and other personnel.

While his drinking feat was well received within the inner sanctum of Stade de France, the response on social media has not been as favourable.

‘Toxic masculinity in political leadership in one image,” tweeted Sandrine Rousseau, an MP for the Green party in France.

Bernard Basset from the charity Association Addictions France told BFMTV that the “president has a responsibility as a role model in terms of setting a healthy example for behaviour”.

He added: “In this case, he’s associating sport, parties and the consumption of alcohol in a context of virile peer-pressure where everyone drinks a bit too much.”

However, many have leapt to the 45-year-old’s defence, and reports also suggest that there was an agreement to keep the ‘incident’ under wraps. However, the sheer volume of phones recording it led to footage inevitably being leaked this week.

Macron is no stranger to sporting arenas and following the fortunes of France, he was present when they won the football World Cup in 2018 and also gave a speech when they were losing finalists in last year’s tournament.

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