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

First topic message reminder :

Scotland    vs France   

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

Referee: Chris Pollock



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:


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:



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.

Fortuitous but ill take the try

lovely kick with the outside of his foot. great skill.

The French defender touched that first! 

Get in there Hogg

David feckin Denton.

Yeah - you scored a try!

Damn it, Beattie looks to be going off. He was really playing well too.

denton with maybe a bit too much self belief again?

how do you all feel about him? potential match winner or bit of a liability? i have only seen him in this 6N series

 

Please don't put Wilson at 6!

mystiroakey wrote:Yeah - you scored a try!

scored two last week, 3 in total now    getting carried away now like!

Denton is a feckin bell end !

Lovely try

beatifully worked move!

Oh what a try. Scotland's handling there was brilliant

YOU BEAUTY!!!

Lovely attacking play

Frick. I had an inkling Scotland might do well today. I should always trust my instinct.

Clear obstruction.

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:Denton is a feckin bell end !

Indeed!

Boom.

We need to cut out the penalties. Keep the ball. France are creaking.

GloriousEmpire wrote:Clear obstruction.

To be fair that try came from a lovely line and week tackling by mermoz

interesting. another try that were it referred for obstruction, might have been cancelled. fodder for the obstruction thread.

anyway, lovely handling and move.

Tramptastic wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:Clear obstruction.

To be fair that try came from a lovely line and week tackling by mermoz

And the obstruction.

Tramptastic wrote:

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:Denton is a feckin bell end !

Indeed!

I keep saying this but I'm often shot down for it. For every one thing he does well he does two things badly.

aaaaaand Bastareaud got suckered in by scott

GloriousEmpire wrote:

Tramptastic wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:Clear obstruction.

To be fair that try came from a lovely line and week tackling by mermoz

And the obstruction.

Aye but mostly the draw, inside pass, lovely line, weak tackle... and an obstruction... so by my accurate count that's 1/5th illegal

What a kick from Hogg, massive distance.

tigertattie wrote:

Tramptastic wrote:

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:Denton is a feckin bell end !

Indeed!

I keep saying this but I'm often shot down for it. For every one thing he does well he does two things badly.

Have you ever met him in real life? Complete willy jockey apparently!
We have a problem with 8s in scotland, Beattie can only be bothered half the time, denton has the hands of a goat (i.e. hooves) and Wilson is only getting half the game time he needs due to Strauss!

basteraud...immoveable object

Come on Scotland. Don't feck this lead up!

He released and then went for the turnover. That's a poor decision from Pollock.

OK, he didn't release well enough. Justified decision.

good consistent refereeing of breakdown so far.

french lineout is horrendous

6 line outs lost by France

Nachos Jones wrote:He released and then went for the turnover. That's a poor decision from Pollock.

wrong. he didnt release he just got back to his feet while keeping his hands on the ball

How did england lose to this poor French team?

C'mon Scotland finish them off before half time

Hogg really does look good when he stands at 10, very pivotal in the Scottish attack.

quinsforever wrote:

Nachos Jones wrote:He released and then went for the turnover. That's a poor decision from Pollock.

wrong. he didnt release he just got back to his feet while keeping his hands on the ball

Yeah, I edited my original comment after seeing the replay.

Good performance by Scotland against a good French team. Such a shame Scotland's good form has come so late in the championship...!

Looks like many of the scots fans on here should be advising Scott Johnson on selection...

France flyhalf is as bad as the wales flyhalf aimless kicking. Scotland should make the most of their luck should have a yellow card and both trys were iffy.

Nachos Jones wrote:

quinsforever wrote:

Nachos Jones wrote:He released and then went for the turnover. That's a poor decision from Pollock.

wrong. he didnt release he just got back to his feet while keeping his hands on the ball

Yeah, I edited my original comment after seeing the replay.

  

basteraud might as well be playing flanker given his turnovers and plisson kicking every time.

love watching dulin counterattack

Good passage of play. Scotland looked good with the pick and drive but Basteraud gets in there and gets turnover, and French counterattack from failed Hogg attack and they'll be disappointed with the knock on. Entertaining wee game.

Credit to Fat Bastereau. I agree with the Squeaky One. They should have kept the ball in that scrum.

hamilton. silly boy.

Hamilton is a penalty machine

Domingo is setting so low that cross should be leaning on him making Domingo take all the weight. We should be face planting the French scrum each time.

We need to be smarter.

Pollock might have a pollocks name but he's making this a fair, open contest. Scotland kicking game is superior as France's kicking game and lineout is woeful. When they chance their arm more and run the ball they look good. Which begs the question why don't they do it more.

Good first half but the early required replacements from Scotland may tell later in the match.

Should be another yellow on hamilton scotland must keep their noses clean.

Not convinced by Wier at flyhalf but the rest of the backline look great...

Considering the injuries to good Scottish forwards, this could be a very good Scotland team come the RWC next year.