The problem all those lists of things you really must do before you die is that so many of the so-called unmissable experiences seem more likely to shorten your life than enhance it.

Yet if anyone ever comes up with one that has the rugby fanatic in mind, then a match at Toulon's Stade Felix Mayol would surely be right at the top.

Correction. For the greatest part of the occasion is not the match itself, but the gladiatorial entrance of the Toulon players about an hour before the start. The untrained eye might mistake it for a riot, or a Nigel Farage outing to an Edinburgh pub, but the cacophonous reception given to the players as they march through the crowd is one of the wonders of the rugby world.

Yet this was how the business end of the week used to begin for Phil Fitzgerald. The Scottish hooker spent a dozen seasons at the Provencal club, experiencing its rise from cash-strapped provincial outpost to one of the top clubs in Europe, before he retired from the game a couple of years ago. Only latterly did he figure on the national selectors' radar screens – he won a solitary Scotland A cap in 2008 – but was a good enough player to hold his place in the Toulon first team even as individuals of the calibre of Tana Umaga, Sonny Bill Williams and Jonny Wilkinson started taking up space in the dressing room.

These days, the 36-year-old still lives in Toulon. Having completed a degree in Scots law at Edinburgh Universitybefore becoming a full-time player, he has since added a doctorate in French law and is now finishing off the training that will allow him to practise in France. But while his playing days are in the past, he has fond memories of the febrile atmosphere that playing for the club let him experience.

"I really don't think there's anything like it in the game," says Fitzgerald, who was raised near Stirling and also spent a few seasons at Watsonians. "You never really got used to it because it was magical every time. There are some great grounds in other parts of France, but nothing matched Toulon.

"The march through the crowd is actually quite a recent thing. I think it was in 2006 or 2007 that it started. The bus would stop about 150 metres from the ground and then the players would walk through this narrow gap in the crowd. It's an amazing thing to do, especially for a big game. It's very intense, but that's part of what playing in Toulon is all about."

At Clermont Auvergne, Toulon's opponents in today's Heineken Cup final in Dublin, the players' arrival might be a little more low-key, but you could scarcely have a better measure of the contribution of the crowd in the spine-tingling surroundings of the Stade Marcel Michelin than the fact that Clermont have recently extended their home record to an astonishing 60 victories on the trot.

Clermont, known locally as 'Les Vulcans' – sadly, the nickname relates to the vulcanisation of rubber at the nearby Michelin factory rather than a tendency to pointy ears – have a long-established connection with Scotland. The team is managed by former Jed-Forest prop Neil McIlroy – Paul Burnell and Jason White played for them in the past, Nathan Hines is still a stalwart of the side and Mark Bennett completed his rugby education there before signing for Glasgow.

Murdo McAndrew, formerly of Cupar, is just the latest Scot to wear Clermont's yellow and blue, albeit in the academy side for whom the 19-year-old Fifer will play in a national age-grade championship semi-final against Agen tomorrow. McAndrew hooked up with Clermont last summer and, although he suffered an early serious chest injury that kept him out for three months, he has revelled in his experiences.

"I got here in July and went straight into a pretty brutal pre-season programme that lasted for three weeks," McAndrew explains. "I've loved having the opportunity to play here. The injury set me back a bit, but the last few months have been pretty exciting.

"Right now, the atmosphere around the town and the club is pretty crazy. Everywhere you go there are big yellow and blue banners. There is a definite buzz about the place. Everyone is talking about the game and there's going to be a big screen in the middle of the town where people will be watching it. I would have liked to go to Dublin, but because of the semi on Sunday I'll probably just be watching it with a few mates."

Clermont were once famous, or perhaps notorious, for their failure to clinch the French club championship. Between 1936 and 2009 they reached the final 10 times – and 10 times they lost. However, in 2010 they finally ended that sequence with a thunderous and hugely emotional 19-6 victory over Perpignan. The monkey was finally off their backs.

Have expectations risen as a result? "I think so," says McAndrew. "If you look at the quality of players they have here, all the big names, they've got to be able to do something special. I think the fans are definitely expecting a trophy this year, and everyone at the club probably feels the same.

"In the past they might have put winning the French title above winning in Europe, but I get the impression it is changing. This year, they have definitely put down a marker in the Heineken Cup and there is an expectation that they will win it."

Expectations are also running high at the other end of the Rhone valley, 300 miles to the south. "The people here are crazy about the club," says Fitzgerald. "They are getting used to the club being at the top of the Top 14, and are obviously very excited about the Heineken cup final. It's a big deal for them

"It is the talk of the town, the talk of the papers, it's everywhere really. Everyone is talking about how much it costs to get to Dublin and who has got a seat on the plane. Things have been building since they got through the semi-final a few weeks ago."

The Heineken Cup has not had a first-time winner since Munster made their breakthrough by beating Biarritz at the Millennium Stadium in 2006. However, with Clermont and Toulon both making their first appearance in the final, a new name will be on the trophy by the end of today. The bookies say Clermont; Fitzgerald thinks they might be wrong.

"There has been a great rivalry between the two sides over the past couple of years," says Fitzgerald of the teams who may also be contesting the French championship final in Paris in two weeks' time.

"Part of that stems from the French semi-final in 2010. I came off the bench in that game; it was supposed to be for 10 minutes but it went to extra time as well. Clermont won that day with a try that should have been disallowed. There was a huge knock forward but the referee didn't see it.

"This season, Clermont have been the form team. They have a very good side, but Toulon really play as a team and they have a lot of experience there. Everything I hear about [coach] Bernard Laporte from the people I still know at the club is very positive. He really seems to know how to prepare teams and he is very good at what he does.

"Jonny Wilkinson has shown how effective he still is if he gets the chances. On neutral territory, I think it will be very interesting and I think Toulon could win it."