Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March

by Nematode Wed 26 Feb 2014, 6:59 pm

First topic message reminder :

Scotland Yahoo

vs France

RBS 6 Nations
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Saturday 8th March, 2014
KO 1700

Referee: Chris Pollock

Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March - Page 4 Chris+Pollock+Ireland+v+Scotland+RBS+Six+Nations+3oYNkE6sjFel

Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March - Page 4 Chris+Pollock+Ireland+v+Scotland+RBS+Six+Nations+3oYNkE6sjFel

Assistant Referees: George Clancy, JP Doyle

A. Squads

Scotland Squad REVISED:

Forwards: Johnnie Beattie (Montpellier), Kelly Brown (Saracens), Geoff Cross, David Denton, Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford (all Edinburgh Rugby), Chris Fusaro (Glasgow Warriors), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby), Ryan Grant, Jonny Gray (both Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Castres), Jim Hamilton (Montpellier), Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons), Moray Low, Pat MacArthur (both Glasgow Warriors), Euan Murray (Worcester Warriors), Alasdair Strokosch (Perpignan), Tim Swinson and Ryan Wilson (both Glasgow Warriors).

Backs: Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), Jack Cuthbert, Nick De Luca (both Edinburgh Rugby), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors), Max Evans (Castres), Dougie Fife (Edinburgh Rugby), Stuart Hogg, Ruaridh Jackson (both Glasgow Warriors), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby), Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Taylor (Saracens) and Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors).

NO HARLEY, RENNIE or K LOW

French Squad:

Vincent Debaty, Thomas Domingo, Yannick Forestier, Brice Mach, Dimitri Szarzewski, Nicolas Mas, Rabah Slimani, Alexandre Flanquart, Yoann Maestri, Pascal Pape, Sebastien Vaahamahina, Virgile Bruni, Alexandre Lapandry, Wenceslas Lauret, Bernard le Roux, Damien Chouly, Antonie Claassen, Jean-Marc Doussain, Maxime Machenaud, Morgan Parra, Jules Plisson, Remi Tales, Mathieu Bastareaud, Gael Fickou, Remi Lamerat, Maxime Mermoz, Yoann Huget, Maxime Medard, Hugo Bonneval, Brice Dulin

B. Previous matches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd7YAfmRSls 2013 L
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_7_quuZcsY 2012 L
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zpi55BQmRM 2011 L

C. Teams

France Team:
Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March - Page 4 Bald-clown-cap-64403

Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March - Page 4 Bald-clown-cap-64403

France team: B Dulin (Castres); Y Huget (Toulouse), M Bastareaud (Toulon), M Mermoz (Toulon), M Medard (Toulouse); J Plisson (Stade Francais), M Machenaud (Racing Metro); T Domingo (Clermont Auvergne), B Mach (Castres), N Mas (Montpellier), Y Maestri (Toulouse), P Pape (Stade Francais, capt), S Vahaamahina (Perpignan), A Lapandry (Clermont Auvergne), D Chouly (Clermont Auvergne).

Replacements: G Guirado (Perpignan), V Debaty (Clermont Auvergne), R Slimani (Stade Francais), A Flanquart (Stade Francais), A Claassen (Castres), J-M Doussain (Toulouse), R Tales (Castres), G Fickou (Toulouse).

Scotland Team:
Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March - Page 4 AMY+MACDONALD+The+Dome+53+Pfq0eTjkknal

Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March - Page 4 AMY+MACDONALD+The+Dome+53+Pfq0eTjkknal

Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Scott (Edinburgh), Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh); Ryan Grant (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons), Geoff Cross (Edinburgh), Richie Gray (Castres), Jim Hamilton (Montpellier), Johnny Beattie (Montpellier), Kelly Brown (Saracens, capt), David Denton (Edinburgh).
Replacements: Ross Ford (Edinburgh), INJ OUT ~~Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh)~~ IN Moray Low, Euan Murray (Worcester Warriors), Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), Max Evans (Castres).

D. Watch out for...

Richie Gray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSpiYWB-5Sk

Yoann Huget https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYWJyeLoUAs

PS Thanks to George Carlin for previous match threads. I've tried where possible to continue your style and structure.

by tigertattie Wed 05 Mar 2014, 10:45 pm

The more I think about it, the more irate at Johnson I get. The more irate at him I get, the angrier I get at the SRU for allowing him to continue.

by jimbopip Thu 06 Mar 2014, 8:26 am

Good God, Tiger, Rab C is picking a team to win the game. How can you knock such an intuitive, visionary grasp of the higher reaches of coaching philosophy? Has he not , in a blinding flash of inspiration, enlightened us all to the fact that Davey lamps and canaries are no longer required when playing international rugby? Well, against the French at least.
Have you paused to consider the fact that 6 +7+8 =21, but 8+8+8= 24 and size does matter on a rugby field. Therefore three 8's is a better back row. Coz it's a bigger number, innit?
Tiger, get with the programme before Saturday otherwise you might miss out on tickets for Monday's celebratory tickertape parade. On an open top tram down Prince's Street.

by whocares Thu 06 Mar 2014, 8:37 am

"Team France" finally announced Sad

Dulin ; Huget, Bastareaud, Mermoz, Médard ; (o) Plisson, (m) Machenaud ; Lapandry, Chouly, Vahaamahina ; Maestri, Papé (cap) ; Mas, Mach, Domingo.

subs: Guirado, Debaty, Slimani, Flanquart, Claassen, Doussain, Tales, Fickou.

good thing I didnt have a guess about what PSA had in mind !

a second row (Vahaamina) as flanker Shocked

Fickou still not starting, bastareaud still there, where is bonneval? unexperienced Lapandry starting in an experimental backrow Rolling Eyes

talk about a random selection. my 4.5 years old coudl have done the same by picking names out of a hat!

not sure I want to watch that...

EDIT: am actually happy to see Lapandry to be given a chance, that's the only positive

by **RDW** Thu 06 Mar 2014, 8:43 am

Is Machenaud the scrum half that has been pretty dire all 6N?

Not overly terrified by that selection..

by whocares Thu 06 Mar 2014, 8:46 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:Is Machenaud the scrum half that has been pretty dire all 6N?

Not overly terrified by that selection..

Machenaud was coming out of the bench, guess you are talking about Doussain.
PSA clearly going for "power to the forwards" game plan. whatever that is.

by AsLongAsBut100ofUs Thu 06 Mar 2014, 8:53 am

whocares, don't worry, there's more than enough to roll over this Scotland team

by **Notch** Thu 06 Mar 2014, 9:10 am

It's official- you're not going to get a weaker French selection than that. Either they bosh through the Scots and scrum them off the pitch or they look painfully laboured and the result is anyones guess.

by whocares Thu 06 Mar 2014, 9:13 am

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:whocares, don't worry, there's more than enough to roll over this Scotland team

Vahaamahina will be a liability though. ok it will strenghten the line out but with ball in hand he doesnt have the skills of a flanker and gets easily frustrated. expect a few knock ons and at least a yellow card from him. not the right message to send to the players when there is specialists available like Bruni.

by **RDW** Thu 06 Mar 2014, 9:23 am

It does look like the French are looking to take us on up front, which is probably fair given the current state of the pitch.

We have a pretty hefty pack of our own - especially the back 5 - so hopefully they won't find it easy.

Think Scotland need to play a high tempo game to shift that back around.

by AsLongAsBut100ofUs Thu 06 Mar 2014, 9:28 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:It does look like the French are looking to take us on up front, which is probably fair given the current state of the pitch.

We have a pretty hefty pack of our own - especially the back 5 - so hopefully they won't find it easy.

Think Scotland need to play a high tempo game to shift that back around.

Sorry to burst you bubble, RDW, but we'll be pursuing our usual hoof-it-&-hope gameplan that Johnson loves

by **RDW** Thu 06 Mar 2014, 9:30 am

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:It does look like the French are looking to take us on up front, which is probably fair given the current state of the pitch.

We have a pretty hefty pack of our own - especially the back 5 - so hopefully they won't find it easy.

Think Scotland need to play a high tempo game to shift that back around.
Sorry to burst you bubble, RDW, but we'll be pursuing our usual hoof-it-&-hope gameplan that Johnson loves

We didn't do that against Italy, and it would be suicidal to do it against the French.

by whocares Thu 06 Mar 2014, 9:33 am

just target the 10-12 channel. that would be enough for Scotland to break the gain line. if you have a guy like Roberts, you would be pretty much guaranteed a win.

by doctornickolas Thu 06 Mar 2014, 9:40 am

Scotland to beat France, who then pull out one of those performances and muller Ireland in the last game.

Wales to beat England and Scotland to cart off another very unlikley Championship Wink

by Mad for Chelsea Thu 06 Mar 2014, 9:56 am

don't mind France picking Lapandry, cracking player who deserves a chance. Szarsewski, Nyanga and Fofana are injured aren't they?

Other than that it's a bit of a Headscratch

selection by PSA you have to say. Front row and second row are fine. Backrow is a mess (Lapandry aside). Then again, Scotland have a 6 starting at 7, an out-and-out 8 starting at 6, while the bloke who usually plays 8 but can play 6 is at 8, and another 8 who can potentially cover 6 on the bench.

France's halfbacks make reasonable sense (is Parra banned?), Machenaud has been better than Doussain, and I quite like Plisson though he's not being allowed to play his game. PSA seems to have taken over Lancaster's obsession of packing the back three with FBs (with another FB, Bonneval, cracking talent, harshly ditched). Not sure what Bastareaud has done over the course of three matches to keep his place either.

Scotland won't get a better chance, that's for sure...

by RuggerRadge2611 Thu 06 Mar 2014, 9:59 am

whocares wrote:just target the 10-12 channel. that would be enough for Scotland to break the gain line. if you have a guy like Roberts, you would be pretty much guaranteed a win.

So basically catapult our loose forwards + Lamont and Scott at the 10-12 channel and hope it breaks? It's a better tactic than whatever johnson has been running with as late.

Vahamina at flanker? Headscratch

I can remember just a couple of seasons ago a backrow of Bonnaire, Dusatoir and Harinordoqy.

The French backrow is a mess at the moment.

by Captain_Sensible Thu 06 Mar 2014, 10:12 am

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:
whocares wrote:just target the 10-12 channel. that would be enough for Scotland to break the gain line. if you have a guy like Roberts, you would be pretty much guaranteed a win.

So basically catapult our loose forwards + Lamont and Scott at the 10-12 channel and hope it breaks? It's a better tactic than whatever johnson has been running with as late.

Vahamina at flanker?

I can remember just a couple of seasons ago a backrow of Bonnaire, Dusatoir and Harinordoqy.

The French backrow is a mess at the moment.

To be fair, that wasexactly the plan against Italy - Allan was targeted ruthlessly, and it worked very well.

by **George Carlin** Thu 06 Mar 2014, 10:19 am

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:
whocares wrote:just target the 10-12 channel. that would be enough for Scotland to break the gain line. if you have a guy like Roberts, you would be pretty much guaranteed a win.

So basically catapult our loose forwards + Lamont and Scott at the 10-12 channel and hope it breaks? It's a better tactic than whatever johnson has been running with as late.

Vahamina at flanker?

I can remember just a couple of seasons ago a backrow of Bonnaire, Dusatoir and Harinordoqy.

The French backrow is a mess at the moment.

Yup - Bonnaire choosing to retire from the international game came at a very, very bad time for the French.

by **Notch** Thu 06 Mar 2014, 11:50 am

Even this year without injuries and self-imposed suspensions you could have seen Nyanga, Dusatoir, and Picamoles in the same back row. Maybe St. Andre wouldn't have picked those three together but this is one of the weakest back rows France have out out in recent times.

Chouly and Lapandry are still excellent players though. Vaahahamiahamanana? Good lock.

by whocares Thu 06 Mar 2014, 12:31 pm

I think PSA tactic must be kick to touch - steal the line out - maul...

by **George Carlin** Thu 06 Mar 2014, 12:41 pm

In that case, WhoCares, I'm glad that we have Brown and Hamilton playing.

by alive555 Thu 06 Mar 2014, 12:59 pm

whocares wrote:I think PSA tactic must be kick to touch - steal the line out - maul...

damn.

we cant defend the maul so that tactic might well work picard

by cakeordeath Thu 06 Mar 2014, 1:49 pm

Let's look at this

1. We have home advantage.
2. We have a victory under our belt and confidence must be higher.
3. SJ's selections are only 70% bonkers.
4. France have been hit hard through injuries and suspensions.
5. PSA seems to have taken a leaf out of SJ's book on selection.

What can we take from those points.....

We are going to get a spanking.

by sensisball Thu 06 Mar 2014, 2:11 pm

Big V at 6 is the bizzare selection. He has poor contact skills for such a big player and is a bit of a penalty machine. Chuly on the other hand is enjoying a great season for Clermont ( as is Lapandry) and did extremely well in the autumn series. a very clever, skillful and hard no. 8 and an excellent lineout operator.

If Lawson gets injured then Ford would be throwing in trying to avoid both French second rows and all three of their back rowers, leaving only Goeff Cross or ryan Grant as possible recipients of the ball!

by Nematode Thu 06 Mar 2014, 2:22 pm

sensisball wrote:Big V at 6 is the bizzare selection. He has poor contact skills for such a big player and is a bit of a penalty machine. Chuly on the other hand is enjoying a great season for Clermont ( as is Lapandry) and did extremely well in the autumn series. a very clever, skillful and hard no. 8 and an excellent lineout operator.

If Lawson gets injured then Ford would be throwing in trying to avoid both French second rows and all three of their back rowers, leaving only Goeff Cross or ryan Grant as possible recipients of the ball!

His throwing for Edinburgh vs Ospreys was actually not too bad. Much better than in the intl games. And, indeed, that had been his form this year coming into the 6N.

by RuggerRadge2611 Thu 06 Mar 2014, 2:39 pm

Ford is a connundrum. The Edinburgh lineout statistically is the best in the pro12, and Ford has played a lot of those games.

Don't know why the Scottish lineout misfires so badly when he is playing.

by Tattie Scones RRN Thu 06 Mar 2014, 3:11 pm

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Ford is a connundrum. The Edinburgh lineout statistically is the best in the pro12, and Ford has played a lot of those games.

Don't know why the Scottish lineout misfires so badly when he is playing.

Must be down to the only lineout caller we have in the whole of Scotland?

by Nematode Thu 06 Mar 2014, 3:14 pm

To quote Jeremy Clarkson, on lineout calling:

"How hard can it be?"

by Solid8 Thu 06 Mar 2014, 3:22 pm

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Don't know why the Scottish lineout misfires so badly when he is playing.

I have a feeling that it is less to do with the skills of the players in the lineout than it does coaches instructing them to run too many overly complicated drills with codes that are too easily misunderstood. This is the only reason that I can think of as to why our lineout was so poor for the first two games and not all of the problems were caused by throwing, there were messed up and miss-timed lifts as well.

I would imagine that after two games of the gash lineout we were forced to operate with, even someone with limited mental faculties would scale back the complexity and go with the basics - hence a marked improvement for the Italy game, I hope that this continues against France

by AsLongAsBut100ofUs Thu 06 Mar 2014, 3:37 pm

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Ford is a connundrum. The Edinburgh lineout statistically is the best in the pro12, and Ford has played a lot of those games.

Don't know why the Scottish lineout misfires so badly when he is playing.

Two words - Johanthan & Humphreys

by **George Carlin** Thu 06 Mar 2014, 3:38 pm

Or just do what England do and throw it to Gray (i.e. Lawes) all the time.
Everyone knows it's coming but they can't do anything about it.

by GLove39 Thu 06 Mar 2014, 4:30 pm

Slightly off topic, but if anyone else on here / reading this is in Aberdeen today, pop along to Union Square ASAP and get your photo with the 6Nations trophy! https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BiDbX9NIEAAUTTu.jpg You have until 7pm!

by Solid8 Thu 06 Mar 2014, 4:37 pm

At the risk of sounding pessimistic it could be the last time for a long time that the trophy is held aloft by a Scot.

by Nematode Thu 06 Mar 2014, 4:52 pm

Anyone got any ideas why Kelly Brown has had such a rollerocaster?

Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March - Page 4 Bce54cf83b1d10bd036a6af821dc5eb328683656ea51cc1a9ffbd24ad3aa7b94

Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March - Page 4 Bce54cf83b1d10bd036a6af821dc5eb328683656ea51cc1a9ffbd24ad3aa7b94

Oh, and while I'm in the mood, I've found out why our lineout has being going wrong. We've been using an 'innovative' communication method:

Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March - Page 4 Goat-to-cow-come-in-cow.-yes-this-is-cow.

Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March - Page 4 Goat-to-cow-come-in-cow.-yes-this-is-cow.

by Nematode Thu 06 Mar 2014, 5:03 pm

Solid8 wrote:At the risk of sounding pessimistic it could be the last time for a long time that the trophy is held aloft by a Scot.

Scotland (17) v France (19), 8 March - Page 4 Malcolm-Tucker1

by Solid8 Thu 06 Mar 2014, 5:06 pm

If Rab C continues to have any involvement with the Scotland setup then sadly yes.

by MacKnocked-on Thu 06 Mar 2014, 5:08 pm

Nematode wrote:
Solid8 wrote:At the risk of sounding pessimistic it could be the last time for a long time that the trophy is held aloft by a Scot.

Not if Italy win the championship....

by whocares Thu 06 Mar 2014, 6:15 pm

Having just listened to a PSA interview, it appears that he only wants his players to show some "physicality" and go forward on the pitch. No such thing as tactics here!

by TJ Thu 06 Mar 2014, 9:46 pm

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Ford is a connundrum. The Edinburgh lineout statistically is the best in the pro12, and Ford has played a lot of those games.

Don't know why the Scottish lineout misfires so badly when he is playing.

He has the Yips

by Scottish Optimist Thu 06 Mar 2014, 10:14 pm

Nematode wrote:Anyone got any ideas why Kelly Brown has had such a rollerocaster?

Oh, and while I'm in the mood, I've found out why our lineout has being going wrong. We've been using an 'innovative' communication method:

Well it wasn't an alpaca I heard it from but a colleague with plenty Scottish rugby connections heard that Brown stood up in the video debrief after the Ireland game and said things weren't working and there was no plan b. Johnson sent him packing and Grey suggested that this reaction was a bit hasty and funnily enough he was also dropped from the squad for the England game...

It doesn't sound like something Brown would do and it could just be rumors but also kinda makes sense considering Johnson's u turn a few weeks on his captain.

by SecretFly Thu 06 Mar 2014, 10:36 pm

The Lack of Plan Bs seems to be all the rage this year in 6N.

France don't have one.
Wales didn't have one.
And now we hear that Brown was banished for requesting one.

by tigertattie Thu 06 Mar 2014, 10:41 pm

Could PSA be more bonkers than Scott Johnson?

by IanBru Fri 07 Mar 2014, 12:26 am

I heard that asking for a currency plan B is just treasonous scaremongering by quislings...

by AsLongAsBut100ofUs Fri 07 Mar 2014, 8:47 am

IanBru wrote:I heard that asking for a currency plan B is just treasonous scaremongering by quislings...

Indeed, especially when someone has every right to plan A - oh hang on, let's wheel out Danny Alexander again ... laughing

by jimbopip Fri 07 Mar 2014, 9:09 am

tigertattie wrote:Could PSA be more bonkers than Scott Johnson?

One reading of PSA's selection could be that he believes that from 10-13 Scotland are streets ahead of France. Alex Dunbar seems to be on a mission to discover just how much ground he can cover in 10 seconds while Monsieur Bastereau seems intent on discovering just how much ground he can cover while standing still. It would seem that they will look to play a set piece game and attack our lineout. There is a certain logic to it so I'm not sure if PSA's in the Rab C class, yet.
Front Rows Doesn't matter who is hooking, any front row with Domingo and Mas has the edge for me. Also after an hour when we have two props of questionable fitness holding up Can't Throw- Won't Hook it doesn't matter who's in the opposition front row we'll be struggling at set piece.
Locks I think we have the advantage here, which is why PSA has added a lock to their back row.
Back Row Is Rab C a closet cabalist? 24 is not a magic number. It'll be a slug-fest "two armies of darkness that clash by night". The French will want lots of mauls and slow ball; have we the wit to take play away from the collisions? Like John Barclay would.
Half-backs The French have been poor here, but Laidlaw has not exactly been electric either. I envisage their 10 kicking a lot so they can attack our lineout and Wee Dunkie trying to bring in Scott as often as possible. Laidlaw needs to speed up his service, start taking the ball on or be hooked before half time.
Centres Bastereau has been very poor but I think partly because he has been lining up very flat and close to Fofana as if he's afraid Fofana would run away from him. Subsequently he has taken the ball practically standing still and has not got up to speed before contact. If he does that on Saturday then Dunbar can stop him every time. If the French back row are tied up in an arm wrestle and Scott gets quick ball, in any space, he could have a very good day.
Back Three Advantage France; so don't kick to them. Stop the ball going beyond the Human Wardrobe and their influence on the game can be limited. Of course a 7 in our back row to harry their 10 and stop him kicking too much, or well, may possibly have been a good idea.

I think we can win this. Braveheart

by mystiroakey Fri 07 Mar 2014, 9:18 am

I think Scotland should feel positive. I think you will probably be very Brave Wink

!! but just lose by under 7

by whocares Fri 07 Mar 2014, 9:43 am

On the scrum, there is a bit of questionning going on in the french camp. they seem to be targeted a bit more by the referees in terms of body positionning (too low) and as a result blamed for collapsing the scrum. our props problem is that they are quite short so not much they could do about it but need to somehow find a way to adapt! with kiwi ref this weekend am not sure if they will have the upper hand agains the Scottish scrum who did ok against Italy.
not sure it matters much given the state of the pitch though.

by mystiroakey Fri 07 Mar 2014, 9:50 am

Do the french ever actually have a plan?

Or do they allways just hope for the best!!

They truly are one of the most random international team,s of any sport out there

by whocares Fri 07 Mar 2014, 10:05 am

in the last 14 years, the french national teams have only impressed when they were physically dominating their opponents. no plan, just bash them up front and try to break the line with one pass . if it doesnt work, they usually lose.

by mystiroakey Fri 07 Mar 2014, 11:06 am

Are you a French fan Whocares?

by **George Carlin** Fri 07 Mar 2014, 11:29 am

WhoCares is our main source on all things French rugby.

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