Scotland vs France, Sunday 3pm, RTÉ/BBC

thomond2006

15 Chris Paterson, 14 Thom Evans, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Chris Cusiter (captain),

8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alastair Dickinson

Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Richie Gray, 19 Alan MacDonald, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Alex Grove, 22 Hugo Southwell





15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra

8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Pascal Pape, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Thomas Domingo

Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Luc Ducalcon, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Frédéric Michalak , 21 David Marty, 22 Vincent Clerc

Date: Sunday, February 7
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Time: 15:00 (15:00 GMT)
Expecting weather: Max. Temperature is just 4°C with a mild wind expected. White clouds overhead.

Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Expect a big battle between the scrum halves. Both have been metronomic this season. It may be a blessing in disguise for France that Julien Dupuy is unavailable through suspension, Parra has been superb since he made his move to Clermont.

Scotland have improved under Andy Robinson, particularly in defence. They still are struggling to score tries, therefore they will heavily rely on Chris Paterson's boot for points.

France, as always, are an unknown quantity, as is their coach. They outmuscle South Africa one week and then are smashed by a rampant All Blacks side after making 10 changes. They cannot shake their inconsistency tag.

Francois Trinh-Duc has yet to prove that he is an international standard fly-half. While his running ability and link-up play is effective, his lack of a kicking game could prove costly to France's chances. He also needs to make himself a strong presence on the pitch and be the "main man", as we've seen from the likes of Wilkinson, Jones, O'Gara and Sexton.

If Paterson turns up, Scotland have the capacity to win this game. I've a feeling Scotland may sneak it.

theboss80

Yeah i agree Paterson could have a major influence on the game but for that to happen then it means France need to be very indisiplined and i dunno if thats gonna happen, we will have 2 wait and see which France team turns up.Both teams have some good backs though so hoping the scrum halves keep the tempo up and we see some good running.

mink_man

It'll be a very low scoring game imo....possibly 10-7 to france or 10-6?

PhatPiggins

Pity Murray and Barcella are both absent, that match up alone would have been worth the entrance fee.

Scotland didn't do much in the Autumn bar tackle every thing that moved. Great win over OZ wa follwed up be half arsed display against a weakened Argentina team.

I think France will kick the stones off them in most areas but Scotlands D should keep it respectable. France to win it reasonably comfortably though.

theboss80

i reckon 21-12 to France, not 2 bothered as long as France win as i have ireland,england and france to win in a treble@ 12/5

ScrubsfanChris

Alain Rolland referee-ing two games in two days?

themont85

From an Irish perspective you'd want a France win. If the Scots win here the French public will expect an almighty hiding of the Irish at home and this French team has the ability.

thomond2006

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

Alain Rolland referee-ing two games in two days?

I'm more intrigued by the presence of a Scottish TMO.

JustinDee

thomond2006 wrote: »

I'm more intrigued by the presence of a Scottish TMO.

We've had Irish TMOs for games in Dublin.

thomond2006

JustinDee wrote: »

We've had Irish TMOs for games in Dublin.

Really? I've always presumed TMOs had to be neutral also.

gcgirl

JustinDee wrote: »

We've had Irish TMOs for games in Dublin.

Maybe if it was a test match and not competition?

Kev_ps3

themont85 wrote: »

From an Irish perspective you'd want a France win. If the Scots win here the French public will expect an almighty hiding of the Irish at home and this French team has the ability.

eh not really. I'll be shouting for the Scots.

Micky Dolenz

The Scots all the way for this one. It would be great to deny the French a GS on day 2.

cruiserweight

Cheering on Scotland in this one Left it to late to sort out tickets and the cheapest ones left were £50, so watching it at home

JustinDee

gcgirl wrote: »

Maybe if it was a test match and not competition?

No.
Competitive internationals included.

Johnny86

Nigel owens is reffing this one...not mr. rolland

Johnny86

I think they will cover the handicap (+7pts) but just lose, maybe 24 - 18....they aren't short of confidence anyway http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/scottish/8500042.stm

thomond2006

lol insightful quote from Gregor Townsend:

They will try to attack us from everywhere, so we have to score more points than them

You don't say...:p

Johnny86

they are such mundane comments people like townsend make...presumably he calls himself a pundit but won't say where he thinks a certain weakness is in either team

Judgement Day

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

The Scots all the way for this one. It would be great to deny the French a GS on day 2.

Yep, a good hiding of the French team (sadly unlikely) would be no harm as they might lose interest in the competition and I'd risk the chances of a backlash in Paris. May have to drag myself down to the local for this one despite having the kids to look after.

BoarHunter

france have 2 heavy straight runners at center. Expect the attack to come from there. Jauzion-Bastareaud. and bear in mind that Rougerie plays center in Clermomt so i expect to see coming inside the line.

France are going to attack the scottish center at the impact and try to keep standing while the light back row ouedraogo-harinordoquy-Dussautoire will backup these runs when the game ends on the ground.

2 Heavy wingers too backed up by the only light back : poitrenaud who is in the group to add with a bit of unespected moves.

I am looking forward to see Trinh duc who usually doen't take part in the kicking orientation game. Today he will have this in his duty. I want to see how he get on with it.

Parra has been very good with Clermont in both TOP14 and Hcup.

The game will be played on Trinh duc ability to take the game on his side.

toomevara

Sounds like there's a massive French contingent at Murrayfield....

Risteard

I wish we had an anthem like Flower of Scotland...

Risteard

Massive hit from Rougerie, he looks like he hurt his hand though.

danthefan

So Rougerie has fecked up his hand and then knocked himself out with two massive hits in the first 2 minutes.

Crash

what a cameo.

Risteard

And another big hit on Bastareud.

Rougerie gone off now, shame. I think he deserved his shot.

Diabhal Beag

Shame Scotland didn't get the try there. All that work for 3 points.

toomevara

Surely a try?

Four-Percent

Holy bejaysus that was good from france

edit:no try, holy bejaysus that was good (defence) from scotland

Risteard

Fantastic by both players and looks held up.

toomevara

toomevara wrote: »

Surely a try?

No held up! brilliant Evans...

Diabhal Beag

Vincent Clerc stopped by a brilliant Evans tackle on the try line.

toomevara

That French scrum is going to have us in a world of pain next weekend...

danthefan

Not sure you'll see a better try save that that, by both Brown and Evans.

Risteard

Something that annoys me right there.

To me it was clear France were going to score there, so why not give a penalty try straight away? The rule is that a penalty try is to be awarded if it would have been scored had a penalty not been committed, not three or four.

themont85

Scots getting outsang and outplayed.

Micky Dolenz

damn

toomevara

Jesus, it sounds like Murrayfield sur Seine...how many French are there?

Diabhal Beag

Good try for France but conversion missed

Risteard

Close from Scotland. Looks like it's going to be a good match.

danthefan

Another unbelievable save from Scotland. Lamont could easily have given that up for dead.

Sherifu

Bastareaud(great name) with some powerful running. Poor defending from the Scots.

bleg

Nobody even tried to tackle him. Scotland need a try.

toomevara

Sherifu wrote: »

Bastareaud(great name) with some powerful running. Poor defending from the Scots.

He's a big old fun-bus alright. BOD will have his work cut out marshalling him next weekend.

crisco10

Scotland are struggling at the breakdown. Shame really, France are defending awful narrow, if Scotland could get some go forward ball they could be sucking diesel!

Podge_irl

Scotland are going to seriously regret not making good on some great try chances early on.

bleg

Irish defence won't be as leaky.

PhatPiggins

crisco10 wrote: »

Scotland are struggling at the breakdown. Shame really, France are defending awful narrow, if Scotland could get some go forward ball they could be sucking diesel!

No hope of that with the 10's they've got

toomevara

The sound the french supporters are making is astonishing...not only are Scotland wearing their away strip (why?), they must feel like the away team given the numbers of french and the noise they're making....

crisco10

toomevara wrote: »

The sound the french supporters are making is astonishing...not only are Scotland wearing their away strip (why?), they must feel like the away team given the numbers of french and the noise they're making....

Traditionally the home team changes jersey in rugby if there is a clash. Like ever notice, that we always wear white when we play SA in dublin?

Is it just me or are France living offside after any half break by Scotland?