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France and Scotland go head to head at Murrayfield in the Six Nations. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the game from 2:00am (AEDT).
Can the young French juggernaut continue its charge towards Six Nations glory? Hope and expectation are rising out of France with each game that this young team can do it for the first time since 2010.
Scotland pose a greater challenge than many will think and have a good recent record against France at home and are good at springing ambushes at Murrayfield. This could be a banana-skin game for the French, but they have a unified team and will have their players ready to go.
Here are some interesting stat and facts.
Scotland have won two of their last ten matches against France in the Six Nations. The positive is that those two wins were at Murrayfield and both were in the last four years.
Scotland also beat France in the World Cup warm-up game at this ground last year, 17-14, but were hammered the week before by France 32-3 in Nice.
At Murrayfield against France in the Six Nations, Scotland have a 55 per cent winning percentage.
France haven’t won at Murrayfield in the Six Nations since 2014.
France are the only unbeaten team in the Six Nations, but Scotland have been a challenge for them at Murrayfield in recent years. France will look to maintain their consistency in the Six Nations. Scotland play with passion and will not fear the French. Scotland will look to take out the competition leaders. Can France live up to the huge expectations from home?
Gregor Townsend has made three changes – all to his pack – from the side that defeated Italy. Hooker Fraser Brown, second row Grant Gilchrist and number eight Nick Haining come in for Stuart McInally, Ben Toolis and Magnus Bradbury respectively. On the bench, the uncapped Kyle Steyn is included, and Duncan Weir could win his first cap under Gregor Townsend.
For France, prop Jefferson Poirot comes in for Cyril Baille and winger Damian Penaud replaces Teddy Thomas.
Prediction
Scotland will be a huge challenge for France in this game. A possible upset is on the cards and the French will do well to win here. Scotland’s attack style may suit a NZ referee, and a lot will depend on the Scottish getting that part of their game firing after a disjointed campaign so far. France look to have too much class in a what will be a close encounter.
France by three.
Kick off: 2:00am (AEDT)
Venue: Murrayfield
Coverage: Fox Sports, Kayo
Odds: Scotland $1.80, France $2.00
Scotland
15. Stuart Hogg (C), 14. Sean Maitland, 13. Chris Harris, 12. Sam Johnson, 11. Blair Kinghorn, 10. Adam Hastings, 9. Ali Price, 1. Rory Sutherland, 2. Fraser Brown, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Scott Cummings, 5. Grant Gilchrist, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Nick Haining. Replacements: 16. Stuart McInally, 17. Allan Dell, 18. Willem Nel, 19. Sam Skinner, 20. Magnus Bradbury, 21. George Horne, 22. Duncan Weir, 23. Kyle Steyn
France
15. Anthony Bouthier, 14. Damian Penaud, 13. Virimi Vakatawa, 12. Arthur Vincent, 11. Gael Fickou, 10. Romain Ntamack, 9. Anthony Dupont, 1. Jefferson Poirot, 2. Julien Marchand, 3. Mohamed Haouas, 4. Bernard Le Roux, 5. Paul Willemse, 6. Francois Cros, 7. Charles Ollivon (C), 8. Gregory Alldritt. Replacements: 16. Camille Chat, 17. Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18. Demba Bamba, 19. Romain Taofifenua, 20. Dylan Cretin, 21. Baptiste Serin, 22. Mathieu Jalibert, 23. Thomas Ramos
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Wayne Barnes (England) and Frank Murphy (Ireland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
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