Six Nations – France v Scotland

After a captivating tournament, the rearranged Six Nations France v Scotland clash will take place on Friday evening at the Stade de France. There’s plenty at stake for France, who have control of their own destiny in terms of winning the title. Fabien Galthie’s men are looking to end an 11-year wait for the Six Nations crown, while Scotland could finish as high as second with victory. The last time there was a Friday fixture was two years ago, when Wales rallied from 16-0 down to beat France in Paris en route to completing a Grand Slam.

Scotland have had a topsy-turvy campaign. The overriding moment was when they broke their 38-year hoodoo at Twickenham with an 11-6 win against England. Gregor Townsend’s men then fell to defeats against Wales and Ireland, before they rebounded in style last weekend with a thumping 52-10 win over Italy. In contrast, France have produced some eye-catching performances. Emerging 32-30 victors over Wales last weekend in the game of the tournament.

France v Scotland: Odds picture for Six Nations finale

• France to beat Scotland @2/15 with Casumo
• Scotland +18.5 handicap @7/10 with Casumo
• France to win by 13 points or more @12/25 with Casumo

If France are to deny Wales the Six Nations title, they must beat Scotland with a four-try bonus point, and by at least 21 points to take it on points difference. As things stand, Wales are five points clear at the top of the table, and they have scored 20 tries to France’s 15. Scotland could secure second place with a bonus-point victory and a 6-point win.

Against Italy, Scotland were rampant as they ran in eight tries with hooker Dave Cherry and wing Duhan van der Merwe both scoring twice. For Scotland, it was their biggest winning margin in Six Nations history. Townsend rang in the changes, and there appears to be new-found confidence in the Scotland camp. Against Ireland, Scotland were atrocious from the line-out, losing six out of eight. Handling errors and penalty counts were also too high, and that cost them dearly. Scotland can’t afford to be sloppy against France, or they will be in for a tough evening.

France v Scotland: Injury news and tale of the tape

France will be bereft of Matthieu Jalibert. The fly-half was taken off in France’s tense win over Wales on Super Saturday with a head injury. He has ceded his squad place to Louis Carbonel, who has three Test appearances to his name for Les Bleus. Romain Ntamack is expected to replace Jalibert. As far as Scotland is concerned, Sean Maitland has been left out of the squad. However, there is some good news as Finn Russell (concussion) and Adam Hastings (ban) are both back, and they are in contention to start against France.

For Scotland, trips to Paris have been rather chastening. In their previous visit to the French capital two years ago, Scotland were trounced 32-3 in an international. As far as Six Nations clashes go, Scotland will have fond memories of last year’s clash. They ran out 28-17 winners at Murrayfield. A combination of breakdown savvy and clinical finishing saw them clinch victory. Maitland popped up with two tries, while Adam Hastings kicked over two penalties and three conversions. France are currently in the midst of their best run of home Test matches, and they have won their last nine.

France v Scotland: The view of both camps

It is unsurprising that France are favourites going into this game. Although Six Nations France v Scotland games have been largely entertaining, France have dominated this fixture. The French are 11/20 with Casumo to win both halves. Galthie couldn’t contain his joy after the Wales win, but he was also rather philosophical. He said: “I don’t know if you can measure character. From my perspective, I wasn’t surprised by my players.” Meanwhile, Galthie’s counterpart, Townsend, is eager to end the Six Nations on a high and admits his outfit will use the Twickenham result as ‘motivation’ to cause an upset.

 

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