France v Scotland - Match thread

[George Carlin]

First topic message reminder :

16th March 2013
Kick off: 21:00 (Local) / 20:00 (UK/Ireland)
Stade de France, Paris

Match officials:

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Clownshoes Clancy (Ireland) and Lourens Van Der Merwe (South Africa).
TMO: Carlo Damasco (Italy)

TEAMS:

France:

15 Yoann Huget
14 Vincent Clerc
13 Mathieu Bastareaud
12 Wesley Fofana
11 Maxime Médard
10 Frederic Michalak
9 Morgan Parra

8 Louis Picamoles
7 Thierry Dusautoir
6 Antonie Claassen
5 Yoann Maestri
4 Sebastien Vahaamahina
3 Nicolas Mas
2 Benjamin Kayser
1 Thomas Domingo

Replacements:
16 Guilhem Guirado,
17 Vincent Debaty,
18 Luc Ducalcon,
19 Christophe Samson,
20 Yannick Nyanga,
21 Maxime Machenaud,
22 Francois Trinh-Duc,
23 Florian Fritz or Gael Fickou.

Scotland:

15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors)

14 Sean Maitland (Glasgow Warriors)
13 Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors)
12 Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby)
11 Tim Visser (Edinburgh Rugby)

10 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors)
9 Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby) vice-captain


1 Ryan Grant (Glasgow Warriors) vice-captain,
2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby)
3 Euan Murray (Worcester Warriors)
4 Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) uncapped
5 Jim Hamilton (Gloucester)
6 Alasdair Strokosch (Perpignan)
7 Kelly Brown (Saracens) captain
8 Johnnie Beattie (Montpellier)

Substitutes
16 Dougie Hall (Glasgow Warriors)
17 Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors)
18 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh Rugby)
19 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors)
20 Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors)
21 Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors)
22 Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors)
23 Max Evans (Castres)

Not considered due to injury: Alasdair Dickinson and Richie Gray (Sale Sharks), Chris Cusiter and Chris Fusaro (both Glasgow Warriors), David Denton and Ross Rennie (both Edinburgh Rugby) and Tom Heathcote (Bath Rugby).

Form Guide:

France:

9/3/13 Ire 13 - 13 Fra

23/2/13 Eng 23 - 13 Fra

9/2/13 Fra 6 - 16 Wal

Scotland:

9/3/13 Sco 18 - 28 Wal

24/2/13 Sco 12 - 8 Ire

9/2/13 Sco 34 - 10 Ita

Official Match Preview (courtesy of Sportsbeat):

Philippe Saint-Andre has reiterated the point that his long-term objective for France remains the 2015 World Cup - but in the short-term he knows only too well the value of an RBS 6 Nations victory over Scotland on Saturday.

Saint-Andre's side and Scotland will bring the curtain down on this year's competition with France seeking to avoid finishing bottom of the pile for the first time in RBS 6 Nations history.

They remain without a win in seven Championship matches but Louis Picamoles' opportunist try and Frederic Michalak's nerveless conversion sealed a 13-13 draw with Ireland last time out and a first point of the competition.

Scotland were the last team to succumb to France in the RBS 6 Nations, last February, and Saint-Andre can point to the fact that after poor showings against Italy and Wales, les Bleus have demonstrated improvements against England and Italy.

But should they fail to beat Scotland at home this weekend and Italy get something at home to Ireland, they will collect the wooden spoon, something Saint-Andre is desperate to avoid.

"At least we will not be playing to avoid a whitewash," he said.

"It's important to see that the players showed a reaction. On Saturday we want to play the whole match with that intensity for the full 80 minutes.

"I will of course, as is my nature, assume total responsibility and take the blame for the campaign.

"The federation and the committee director gave us a target to prepare for 2015. We will continue to work towards that objective.

"I take the responsibility because I have always done that, I have never tried to shift it on to others in my career."

If Scotland are to ensure France finish bottom, they will have to defeat les Bleus for the first time in seven RBS 6 Nations clashes and will have the carrot of the possibility of finishing the Championship in second, should they win - and England defeat Wales - with a healthy points swing.

To do so however, they will have to improve on their performance against Wales last time out when too many penalties conceded saw Leigh Halfpenny kick the Red Dragons to a 28-18 victory at Murrayfield.

Regardless, there have been plenty of beacons of light for the Scots and interim boss Scott Johnson, with impressive wins over Italy and Ireland already secured.

But Johnson is under no illusions as to how his side must react to their defeat to Wales.

"We showed great heart and great resolve but we have to look at ourselves rather than at anyone else," said Johnson.

"I don't want to coach a side that apportions blame to someone else, we will go back and have a look and if we have to make changes we will do so, but we will go to Paris to compete.

"The frustrating thing for us is that we think we have a world class scrum and we think we have a world class line-out but we can't get to show it.

"When we get it right, we've got a quality team.

"I keep saying it; we have the ability to put teams to bed but we have to get the first bit right and we're not.
"We don't want our mirror to lie. Our mirror is going to be clean."

[RDW]

Seeing chances is something we're not good at! Was a great break from Scott and showed good pace too

[MacKnocked-on]

Not impressed with Ryan Grant at LH, think he should have applied more pressure on Mas, also think Jon Welsh is the better scrummager.

I personally think Grant has had a good 6N, infact he's the only one of the Scotland front row I'd keep going forward , Welsh is a very good prop and should probably be replacing Murray and obviously Ford can't be trusted to throw in consistently.

[VinceWLB]

I would keep Ford, class player, great carrier and strong scrummager, my ideal front row would be Welsh, Ford and Cusack

[Imperialbigdave]

I would keep Ford, class player, great carrier and strong scrummager, my ideal front row would be Welsh, Ford and Cusack

Fords lineout is just too hot and cold. Ive long been a defender of his as he can do it, but unfortunately if he hasnt built consistancy by now, hes never going to.

[MacKnocked-on]

No problem with any other aspect of Ford's play but he consistently cocks up throw-ins in good attacking positions. Of course Cusack comes in to the equation quite soon I guess, but as Dan Cole isn't as good as the hype would suggest maybe England might fancy giving Cusack a game, we had better hide him away.

[sensisball]

Also thought the Gilchrist gamble didnt pay off. He got a couple ot touches in the lineout but didnt make any big tackles, got pinged for not rolling away in front of the posts and carried worse than Michelak. I thought he looked dead on his feet after 25 minutes.
Johnson would have done better to have stuck Rob Harley in at 4.
Please dont tell me he has been playing in a poor Edinburgh pack and its not his fault, he did his best etc. etc. It was simply too early for the lad and was a wrong call from the coaching staff.
I really hope that Johnson doesnt get the job full time as he has already shown a propensity for major selectorial blindspots including: Sticking with Ford instead of bloodying the in form MacArthur, choosing Low to cover loose head when Welsh is one of the strongest scrummaging loosies in the Rabo, Sticking with Lamont at 13 when he isnt even a good club centre and ignoring the claims of the impressive Dunbar, Finally picking Gilchrist when he clearly isnt match fit or in top form this season ahead of Tom Ryder (Swinson is currently injured i believe). All these selection gaffes show that he cant be trusted to maximise our limited player pool, which we need to do if we are to make progress. PS. i would have moved Lamont to left wing and dropped Visser to the bench until he learns to tackle properly. His flapping around at Basteraud and Nyanga as they set up Fofana's try was actually very funny. It was a bit like a rugby version of a "you've been tangoed" ad, without actually slapping anyone effectively!

[bsando]

I've written a thread on it, but does anyone else feel Scotland have won the wooden spoon today? I just can't believe we have come third. We did not deserve to come third.

[RuggerRadge2611]

Moan moan moan.

I'm happy with our campaign. When was the last time we battered Italy and won against Ireland. The only game we were outclassed in was the England one

SJ got some tactics and selections wrong, but come on, he blooded a dose of new guys in this tournament. Weir, Gilchrist, Maitland,Harley and Wilson.

we need to stop kicking away so much possession but it was a massive improvemnt from the last few years.

[whocares]

Not sure why are people blaming SJ... 3rd is somehow flattering for scotland as was the score yesterday. You lack some international class centres to use the talent in the back 3 and dominate the midfield so have to resort to either kicking or counterattack. Nothing more... What sort of other game plan can they execute?
That said, there is some serious improvement from last year
- the quality the back 3 obviously
- laidlaw at 9
- the tight 5 and particularly the front row (hooker and TH). Good in the set pieces
Roll on next year

[George Carlin]

Also thought the Gilchrist gamble didnt pay off. He got a couple ot touches in the lineout but didnt make any big tackles, got pinged for not rolling away in front of the posts and carried worse than Michelak. I thought he looked dead on his feet after 25 minutes.
Johnson would have done better to have stuck Rob Harley in at 4.
Please dont tell me he has been playing in a poor Edinburgh pack and its not his fault, he did his best etc. etc. It was simply too early for the lad and was a wrong call from the coaching staff.
I really hope that Johnson doesnt get the job full time as he has already shown a propensity for major selectorial blindspots including: Sticking with Ford instead of bloodying the in form MacArthur, choosing Low to cover loose head when Welsh is one of the strongest scrummaging loosies in the Rabo, Sticking with Lamont at 13 when he isnt even a good club centre and ignoring the claims of the impressive Dunbar, Finally picking Gilchrist when he clearly isnt match fit or in top form this season ahead of Tom Ryder (Swinson is currently injured i believe). All these selection gaffes show that he cant be trusted to maximise our limited player pool, which we need to do if we are to make progress. PS. i would have moved Lamont to left wing and dropped Visser to the bench until he learns to tackle properly. His flapping around at Basteraud and Nyanga as they set up Fofana's try was actually very funny. It was a bit like a rugby version of a "you've been tangoed" ad, without actually slapping anyone effectively!

Agree with all of this Sensi- and also with Bsando - the campaign had definite positives but did also feel it was an opportunity missed.

My problem with Andy Robinson was that whilst he adopted effective tactics, his selections stopped the national side from being as effective as it could be. We seem to have swung the other way a little under SJ. The selections are better but the tactics worse.

Areas of focus now have to be, in order, trying new centre combinations (Scott continuing in the mix for now), trying new hooker and loosehead combinations and getting one of our 3 opensides back in there.

[jimbopip]

O.K. post mortem time, here goes.
POSITIVES
Ryan Grant, wouldn't be surprised if he makes Oz in the summer
Big Jim, rediscovered his nasty side, always good to see in a 2nd row
Kellybrows, should go to OZ
Harley & Wilson, both moving in the right direction
Laidlaw, puts heart and soul into every game... is the kicking detracting from a good scrum half or disguising his shortcomings? Why don't the MFL play him at 9?
Maitland, has the skill set, and nous but never really took off... see kicking.
Hogg possibly the best 15 in the tournament
Lamont, played out of position, very little possession and put his body on the line for the team every time, personally I can only respect that. He loves Scotland and loves playing for us.

NEGATIVES
Game plan based on "being in the game after 70 minutes" rather than twenty points ahead!
Ross Ford, I've posted before about his 95% success rate ...it is meaningless if he consistently muffs them on the 5 metre line (theirs and ours)
Lack of ball retention... is it just the lack of a real 7? Is Dean Ryan the man for the job if our possession stats are so much worse than last year? Possibly but there needs to be a real improvement.
10-13 it's unfair to be critical, see kicking AGAIN, they could audition for the lead in 'Oliver', please sir can I have some more!
Visser, tries scored but FFS tackle something, sometimes.
3rd PLACE... an improvement, but slightly soured by what if's...what if we'd gone for it? Remember the glorious failures of last year?
Dunbar, Horne, MacArthur. Heathcote, Welsh, Swinson, Ryder could they have been given their chances?

All in all not the worst 6N but there is work to be done.

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