Thursday 13 October 2016 18:12, UK
Racing 92 are trying their best to ignore the controversy surrounding New Zealand legends Dan Carter and Joe Rokocoko and Argentina winger Juan Imhoff, according to centre Henry Chavancy.
The trio were interviewed by French Rugby anti-doping chiefs on Wednesday after testing positive for corticosteroids following last season's Top 14 final in which Racing beat Toulon 29-21, Carter and Rokocoko contributing 20 points between them.
"We're trying to ignore it, even if you the media do everything so we can't," said Chavancy ahead of Sunday's Champions Cup opener at home to Munster, live on Sky Sports.
"We're focusing on us and our big goals, without being paranoid."
A five-man panel of the French rugby federation's anti-doping commission will decide whether or not the players, and Racing, have broken any rules.
Racing informed French anti-doping (AFLD) officers that the players had taken corticosteroids at the time of their drug tests.
Now the panel must decide whether or not the results correspond with Racing's version of the time, quantity and method of administration.
Chavancy admitted he didn't know how Carter and his two other team-mates were doing, saying only that "in their place it would have affected me a lot".
"They are still very serious accusations, notably for the people around us," the uncapped centre said.
"They are the most affected and it's what makes us suffer the most.
"We're used to managing our personal problems but when it affects our friends, families, it's really much more difficult to manage.
"But [Carter, Imhoff and Rokocoko] are people of character and I know that they'll return stronger from this difficult period."
Racing's forwards coach Laurent Travers played down the idea that the trio's situation might act as a boost for the team.
"What's sure is that it has affected [the squad] and that we're human. People have forgotten that and not respected it."
