Scotland vs France: Six Nations preview
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Last Updated: 08/03/20 3:36pm
France will aim to take another step towards a Six Nations Grand Slam when they tackle Scotland in Edinburgh on Sunday (kick-off 3pm).
Fabien Galthie's side have already toppled England, Italy and Wales, and victory at Murrayfield will put them on course for a first championship in a decade.
Scotland finally picked up their first win of the championship against Italy. Can they back that up with a fourth successive home victory over France?
Russell offers French insight
Finn Russell won't be seen in a Scotland jersey this Six Nations, but assistant coach Danny Wilson hopes the mercurial fly-half can still help in plotting France's downfall.
Talks between Russell and Gregor Townsend resumed by telephone last week, and while it has been mutually agreed that Russell will wait until the summer tour to win his 50th cap, he has at least now agreed to help the team out by sharing information on some of the players he has faced in the Top 14 while playing for Racing 92.
"There has been a fair bit of communication with players who are in that position (of playing in France) and Finn is one of them," said Wilson.
"Obviously he has a real good insight into key individuals that he has played with and against and also on the psyche of that French team at the moment. So there is plenty of really good information that Finn can provide."
Tough travels
The last time France won their first three Six Nations games (2010) they went onto win the Grand Slam.
Murrayfield has not been a happy hunting ground of late for Les Bleus, though.
They have lost on their last three trips to the Scottish capital, including a 17-14 defeat in a Rugby World Cup warm-up game last August.
This is a much-changed France team, of course, but six of the players who started the round-three win over Wales featured in their last match against Scotland.
A strong start by the hosts could sow some doubts into the minds of those visiting players, but in order for that to happen Scotland need to show a ruthlessness which we have yet to see in this year's Six Nations.
While Scotland and France have produced similar numbers when it comes to opposition 22 entries, the French have scored over three times the number of points per visit (3.25 to 0.92). Scotland must address their white-line fever.
Defensive strength
While Scotland have struggled in attack, they have stiffened up in defence, conceding just two tries and less than 11 points per game on average in their opening three matches.
On Sunday they will pit their wits against the most prolific attack in the tournament. France have scored 11 tries and 86 points.
Everyone is sort of writing us off and bigging them up. They have played some great rugby in this tournament but we're focusing on ourselves.
Zander Fagerson
"I've played a lot of these guys at U20s and know they are fantastic players," said Scotland prop Zander Fagerson.
"I remember playing Antoine Dupont and he was as good then as he is now.
"They are an exciting team with some great players but they also have some chinks in their armour that we'll try to expose.
"Everyone is sort of writing us off and bigging them up. They have played some great rugby in this tournament but we're focusing on ourselves.
"It's a big challenge but it's one I think we can definitely win."
Back row battle
Once of the big positives for Scotland in yet another underwhelming Six Nations has been the performances of their back row.
The partnership of Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson and Magnus Bradbury has been among the best in the tournament.
Ritchie and Bradbury are Scotland's main ball-carriers, averaging 12 each per match, and they will again be tasked with getting their side over the gain line against France.
Watson also makes his fair share of carries but it has been in defence where he's really shone. The openside has made 41 tackles across three games, missing none, while he and Richie have won nine defensive turnovers between them.
On Sunday the above trio will be tasked with shutting down one of the contenders for player of the tournament.
Scottish fans will have watched Gregory Alldritt's performances with a rueful glance. The No 8 could be lining up for Scotland this weekend - his grandparents are Scottish and moved to Stirling with Alldritt's father when he was young, while his brother Scott plays for Stewart's Melville in the Scottish National League.
Gregory has been outstanding with ball in hand during this year's Six Nations. His 158 metres gained from 45 metres is the most of any back-row forward. He scored two tries against Scotland last season, and another in the World Cup warm-up game in Nice last August.
Limiting Alldritt's influence will go a long way towards Scotland securing a big victory.
Skinner out to make amends
Scotland's last Murrayfield meeting against France brings back painful memories for Sam Skinner.
The Exeter lock was certain to be one of the first names down for a seat on the plane to the Rugby World Cup last autumn after impressing during his first six Test appearances, but he suffered a hamstring injury in the warm-up win over Les Bleus just a week before Townsend named his final squad.
It was a bitter blow but Skinner has now finally recovered and is aiming to take out his frustrations against France.
"Missing out on the World Cup was difficult to take at the time," he said. "I think my family ended up saving some money on a nice camper van rather than going to Japan as a silver lining.
"It was a long seven months in the end and it was a tough period. But I've worked on some things away from rugby and I've enjoyed the process, so I'm just happy to be back.
"It's gutting at the time, though. You take a short period to feel sorry for yourself but you can't take the highs too high and the lows too low. It was just kind of keep cracking on and enjoying it.
"I wanted the boys to do as well as possible and like most Scotland fans I was on the edge of my seat most of the time. I watched, supported and I was gutted when we couldn't quite make it through.
"What can you do? Life chucks some things in the way, but you've just got to crack on. I'm just grateful to have the opportunity to come back in now."
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 1 Rory Sutherland, 2 Fraser Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Scott Cummings, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 7 Hamish Watson, 8 Nick Haining,
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 George Horne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Kyle Steyn
France: 15 Anthony Bouthier, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Arthur Vincent, 11 Gael Fickou, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 1 Cyril Baille, 2 Julien Marchand, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 5 Paul Willemse, 6 François Cros, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 8 Grégory Alldritt,
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Dylan Cretin, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Matthieu Jalibert, 23 Thomas Ramos
