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

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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.

Well if we stopes giving away silly penalties we would have much better opportunity

Where was Brown today? i reckon Scotland would have won with Barclay or Rennie.

quinsforever wrote:didnt realise denton was a saffa...

+1 Though the hair was a big clue...

maestegmafia wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:So because France scored a good try at the end means that the rest of their trys weren't lucky?

Why were they lucky?

Are France lucky because England defence was poor at dealing with chip kicks because they rush up to quick without good cover?

Luck was how Ireland lost at Twickenham. Why didn't Ireland get the penalty at the end of the game when Courtney Lawes collapsed the Irish maul???

suggest you move this wumming to the england wales thread rather than spoil this one

Commiserations Scotland, felt they had that until the last 5 mins.

Poor discipline though once the law had clearly been laid out. You don't often see the contact area monitored that closely but, as the commentators said, the ref was consistent in his interpretations.

VinceWLB wrote:Where was Brown today? i reckon Scotland would have won with Barclay or Rennie.

Barclay is in great form at the moment.

Denton is from Zimbabwe not SA.

Take heart scots fans, hugely improved performances and though your mental game needs work i think you have found a team and Cotter will sort it

What is it with France and last few minute winning scores?

Knowsit17 wrote:Commiserations Scotland, felt they had that until the last 5 mins.

Poor discipline though once the law had clearly been laid out. You don't often see the contact area monitored that closely but, as the commentators said, the ref was consistent in his interpretations.

I agree.

They shouldn't have butchered that overlap with the miss pass that Huget intercepted. From that point they were in poor shape..

England missed out on Denton

Seeing it again. What was weir thinking? Simple through the hands and Hogg or Seymour would have walked in.

So many missed kicks at goal too

2 bald men fighting over a comb ffs. Well Dunky you gave us the game v Italy and now you (and Swinson) cost us the fecker.

Pse Johnson, I saw you cough, tell us its nothing trivial.

I am fed up with this Poopie

Opportunities lost today for Scotland but a marked improvement on performance. Decision making was not the best and Scotland certainly need a very cool head in on the field.

I would even start putting Hogg more at 10 and making him captain.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Denton is from Zimbabwe not SA.

Fair play mate, though my money's on he was schooled in SA.

I don't think Scotland should dwell on the positives of this match, even though there were certainly positives to take out of it. But they must look at how they let France into the game with the intercept try and how they were ahead and failed to close out the game. Positives don't count for the-state-of-the-pitch if you lose games like that.

There are some great players coming out of Zimbabwe lately. They obviously love their rugby.

There is a positive from this game, Cross can actually scrummage but we already knew it.

Nachos Jones wrote:Opportunities lost today for Scotland but a marked improvement on performance. Decision making was not the best and Scotland certainly need a very cool head in on the field.

I would even start putting Hogg more at 10 and making him captain.

I agree, Hogg looks very useful coming in at ten for attacking play.

Wier is an issue, he's not cut out for this level.

I actually take few positives from that game. We are still poor and this does not change the fact that we are in a terrible terrible place,

This French team are a joke, and we still can not beat them.

Swinson cameo is possibly the worst cameo i have ever seen at international level.

I agree Risky. Still in shock how Scotland lost and how poor France were.

Nobody currently has the ability of this French team to chuck continuity out the window and register wins nonetheless by pouncing on isolated errors which ultimately prove to be decisive. I'll never know quite how they do it but it's become a recurring theme of the French squad since the last WC. Now, as then, they're still in with a chance of taking the tournament despite not showing any structure throughout. It defies logic!

One of the worst lineouts I've seen from any side. This is the first time their strength in depth at hooker has been tested and from 3rd choice onwards they look totally inept at this level. The breakdown was the only area the French clearly looked on top, aside from a few intensified attacking moves.

Well I have been deflated after Scotland performances before (in-fact most of them) but this ranks right up there with the best of them.

How we lost to that rabble I simply don't understand, France offered absolutely nothing and we still couldn't get the win. Duncy Weir's looped miss pass when we had about a 4 on 2 was criminal, just absolutely criminal at this level. From that point onward all the fight went out of us.

Riskysports wrote:I actually take few positives from that game. We are still poor and this does not change the fact that we are in a terrible terrible place,

This French team are a joke, and we still can not beat them.

The poor ness is bad kicks, bad passes and therefor missed opportunities. The foundations of a good Scotland team are very evident...

I imagine Swinson's orders from the Dear Leader were to "do what I'd do"

Knowsit17 wrote:The breakdown was the only area the French clearly looked on top, aside from a few intensified attacking moves.

You know you are in trouble when France who is usually a quite poor team at the breakdown outplays you. Yet Barclay and Rennie watched this game on the tv. i reckon even Roddy Grant would have done a better job than what Brown did today.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:

quinsforever wrote:didnt realise denton was a saffa...

+1 Though the hair was a big clue...

isn't he from Zimbabwe?

France played poorly but we simply gave them the game on a plate, every single point they scored was gifted to them through indiscipline or pure stupidity.

Where are the stat men?

I'd put money on the fact that in the second half we went back to booting the ball away rather than playing.

maestegmafia wrote:

Nachos Jones wrote:Opportunities lost today for Scotland but a marked improvement on performance. Decision making was not the best and Scotland certainly need a very cool head in on the field.

I would even start putting Hogg more at 10 and making him captain.

I agree, Hogg looks very useful coming in at ten for attacking play.

Wier is an issue, he's not cut out for this level.

I actually think weir is decent. On the miss pass, JD is just wrong. If they'd gone through the hands the French would've shuffled them into touch or cut out the move in midfield.

The wide pass was the correct option, but the execution was just not quite good enough as huget, who is a very very talented player made an all or nothing play and it was frankly the only thing that came off for france.

Yeah BB, Leinster corrected us on that. But it was a surprise to hear for quins and I to hear that Zim accent in the man of the match award.

These beers are going down like sand. There's just no way Scotland should've lost that game. I usually am circumspect about saying a team gifted another team victory but this was a match where I think it's as close to being true as you'll ever get. I reiterate, France wanted to lose just that little bit less today.

You scots must feel the way we did after our game v the french.

Gutting- but the performance was good enough to feel happy

cakeordeath wrote:I am fed up with this Poopie

+1
Had to switch off during the 2nd half. How did Scotland not win?? Were they knackered? They just to kick to touch to get a try opportunity.

VinceWLB wrote:

Knowsit17 wrote:The breakdown was the only area the French clearly looked on top, aside from a few intensified attacking moves.

You know you are in trouble when France who is usually a quite poor team at the breakdown outplays you. Yet Barclay and Rennie watched this game on the tv. i reckon even Roddy Grant would have done a better job than what Brown did today.

I agree, when Pape is earning turnovers you know something is amiss with the backrow. It's so painfully obvious that we should play Brown at six and one of our selection of quality sevens at seven. And what was Wilson doing on the Bench? In commentary they mentioned he had been suffering from Tonsillitis and had lost three kilos?

mystiroakey wrote:You scots must feel the way we did after our game v the french.

Gutting- but the performance was good enough to feel happy

Happy? Not even alcohol can achieve that mate. Whocares gave up at half time and he's French. He did well not to watch that car crash test of a second half. It was like watching your grandad popping out of his speedos at a public swimming pool. We all saw it but nobody wants to acknowledge it. The scarring is big enough as it is.

look mate scotland have come from getting beaten big by ireland and england scoring  one pen and then beating italy away and getting close v france..

You have to look at the positives if you are that sort of team. It just takes time for the hurt to heal

Well, scott Johnson was proven correct : the win last week didn't fix anything.

I think the danger signs are there for Ireland next week. France were awful and it's impossible to see how they'll be fit to compete for the title next week. Since it's France, that probably means it's certain that they will.

England and Ireland were aberrations but they are easier to take in a sense. They were never in a game. Scotland were in the ascendancy for almost all the game and still come away winless. They at least beat Italy 2 weeks ago but this match hurts a lot more than England or Ireland.

We scored two tries both should not have counted and then we huffed a puffed around the half way line looking like scoring zero point.

Same boring boring story for the last 10 years.

The Only positive is I saw ford hook one


WE have not progresses in 10 years and it is shocking

Scotland should mark this game down to the one that got away.

Scotland deffo need a goal kicker, desperately.

This France team are still in with a chance of winning the 6ns championship. Of course it will all depend on tomorrows game i guess.

But this is about the worst French team i have ever seen. So for France too win would in my mind be a diaster.

EST wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:

Knowsit17 wrote:The breakdown was the only area the French clearly looked on top, aside from a few intensified attacking moves.

You know you are in trouble when France who is usually a quite poor team at the breakdown outplays you. Yet Barclay and Rennie watched this game on the tv. i reckon even Roddy Grant would have done a better job than what Brown did today.

I agree, when Pape is earning turnovers you know something is amiss with the backrow.  It's so painfully obvious that we should play Brown at six and one of our selection of quality sevens at seven.  And what was Wilson doing on the Bench?  In commentary they mentioned he had been suffering from Tonsillitis and had lost three kilos?

Surely after this if Johnson starts Brown at 7 AGAIN next weekend it could reasonably be assumed that he has an agenda to do everything in his power to prevent Brown playing at 6? Maybe he interprets Brown playing at 6 as fulfillment of some kind of apocalyptic prophecy and is therefore putting it off as long as he can.

Scott Johnson - protector of the universe  

I worry that in ten years time we'll have no opensides and we'll look back at this and wonder...

Knowsit17 wrote:

EST wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:

Knowsit17 wrote:The breakdown was the only area the French clearly looked on top, aside from a few intensified attacking moves.

You know you are in trouble when France who is usually a quite poor team at the breakdown outplays you. Yet Barclay and Rennie watched this game on the tv. i reckon even Roddy Grant would have done a better job than what Brown did today.

I agree, when Pape is earning turnovers you know something is amiss with the backrow.  It's so painfully obvious that we should play Brown at six and one of our selection of quality sevens at seven.  And what was Wilson doing on the Bench?  In commentary they mentioned he had been suffering from Tonsillitis and had lost three kilos?

Surely after this if Johnson starts Brown at 7 AGAIN next weekend it could reasonably be assumed that he has an agenda to do everything in his power to prevent Brown playing at 6? Maybe he interprets Brown playing at 6 as fulfillment of some kind of apocalyptic prophecy and is therefore putting it off as long as he can.

Scott Johnson - protector of the universe  

Yes - maybe he he sees Brown playing 6 as some harbinger of the apocalypse. I have long since given up trying to fathom out Johnson's selections. I remember before the England game, he used the state of the pitch as rationale for dropping Brown and picking Fusaro. Lo and behold he trots out the same line when providing a reason for picking Brown over Fusaro for this game. He simply has not one clue. Not one iota of a clue. And this man, ladies and Gentlemen, will be in charge of our entire nations future rugby strategy after this championship.

Definitely Scotland's best performance so far. I thought they were going to do it when they went 17-16 up.

Joking aside, he utterly fails as a selector, particularly of the forwards. He's a backs coach by trade and today is just further evidence that he hasn't the capacity to succeed as head coach. That said, I have absolutely no idea why he has been so popularly sought after by clubs and unions for positions that clearly demand too much of him (Wales temp, Ospreys and now Scotland). Maybe this will finally enlighten some people

[quote="Rugby Fan"]So that's two games France have won against the run of play. England and Scotland will be kicking themselves.[/quote  ]
Scotland would probably miss!

Well, at least that display wasn't the worst thing on tele today. They've just rolled status quo out on ant and dec.

Still trying to get my head round that. We were in control but weir's interception made the heads go down and we stopped playing

Barclay is needed in that side.There was no leader.
Why didn't Hogg take those kicks?Madness.
That game was there for the taking.Frustrating!