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Team-mate Gael Fickou says France have lost the best prop they have ever had after Uini Atonio was forced to retire with a heart problem.
Atonio, 35, was taken to an intensive care unit at a hospital in La Rochelle on Tuesday after suffering from a "cardiac event".
He is now in a stable condition.
"He was an incredible player with an extraordinary physique and amazing qualities," Fickou told L'Equipe of 6ft 4in, 23st Atonio., external
"He was undoubtedly the best French prop we've ever had."
Atonio pulled out of club side La Rochelle's match against Clermont on Sunday after suffering chest pains and withdrew from France's Six Nations squad the following day, before his admission to hospital on Tuesday.
"I'd already seen that he wasn't feeling well during his team's trip to Clermont," said Fickou.
"I know him and found it strange. He's not the type to fake it.
"He's an exceptional player, but it's the man I want to pay tribute to most of all.
"In a team, he's a great guy, always smiling. I have so many memories; I looked at a lot of photos with him this afternoon. I hope there will be more.
"Uini has left his mark. He probably would have preferred a different ending, but that's life. Rugby isn't eternal, but friendship is."
New Zealand-born Atonio won 68 caps for France, was part of their 2022 Grand Slam-winning side and started all five games in their title-winning Six Nations campaign in 2025.
Hooker Jamie George, who has faced Atonio in front-row battles for both club and country, also paid tribute.
"On behalf of the England squad, I want to send Uini all our very best wishes following his retirement," he said.
"A huge competitor on the field and a great man. We're thinking of him and wishing him strength and good health."
England internationals Nick Isiekwe and Jack Singleton, external have had treatment for cardiac issues in recent years, while the demands of the Test game, and on forwards in particular, have risen with the ball being in play longer and players getting larger and heavier.
Professor Daniel Augustine is the medical director of Sports Cardiology UK. He says that sport might bring heart problems to the surface, rather than causing them in the first place.
"There's one type of heart condition in particular - ARVC (Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy) - which gets worse the more sports you do," he says.
"For the vast majority of people, as you do more sports and put different aerobic stress on your heart, it adapts in both structure and the electrical component of it's pump function.
"The fitter you are, the more your heart adapts.
"However we know from the screening data that 2-3% of elite sportspeople will have an underlying heart condition
"One hypothesis is that continuing to exercise at a higher level might bring out those pre-existing underlying issues a bit more aggressively.
"When you think about the size of the squads, and their academies, two or three players out of 100, means you will tend to come across some sort of underlying condition after screening perhaps two clubs."
Augustine believes that any perception of a spate of heart problems among rugby players is more a product of modern media, than the modern game.
"When catastrophic things happen to high-profile players, it's around the world now within seconds," he says.
"Before, that wasn't the case. Unfortunately, this has probably always been happening but we just weren't as aware of it."
Every player in England's international set-up and at every Prem club – from the first team down to academies and age-grade teams – is screened for cardiac problems on a regular basis, with bespoke schedules set up for players at greater risk.
Checks are necessary because cardiac issues can emerge at any point.
"Cardiac disease can have what we call a latent period – it may not manifest at the time of a screen and instead happen down the line," says Augustine.
"That's why people should have regular screens."
