France v Scotland, 5 September

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FRANCE v SCOTLAND
5 September 2015
21:00 CEST (UTC+02)
Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Live on BT Sport 1

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges: JP Doyle (England) Luke Pearce (England)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)

A. Head to Head

88 Played 88
51 Won 34
3 Drawn 3
34 Lost 51
1,243 Points 1,057

B. Recent Form

7 February 2015
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
15 – 8 France

8 March 2014
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
17 – 19 France

16 March 2013
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
23 – 16 France

26 February 2012
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
17 – 23 France

5 February 2011
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
34 – 21 France

7 February 2010
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
9 – 18 France

14 February 2009
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
22 – 13 France

3 February 2008
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
6 – 27 France

17 March 2007
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
46 – 19 France

5 February 2006
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
20 – 16 Scotland

C. Teams

FRANCE

15 Scott Spedding
14 Yoann Huget
13 Fat Bastareaud
12 Wesley Fofana
11 Noa Nakaitaci
10 Freddie Michalak
09 Sebastien Tillous Borde

08 Louis Picamoles
07 Damien Chouly
06 Thierry Dusautoir (C)
05 Alexando Flanquart
04 Pascal Pape
03 Rabeh Slimani
02 Guilhem Guirado
01 Eddy Ben Arous

16 D. Dzarzewski
17 V Debaty
18 N Mas
19 B Le Roux
20 Y Nyanga
21 M Parra
22 R Tales
23 A Damoulin

SCOTLAND

15 Sean Maitland (London Irish) – 15 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
14 Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 17 caps; 6 tries, 30 points
13 Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors) – 8 caps; 3 tries, 15 points
12 Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby) – 28 caps; 3 tries, 15 points
11 Tim Visser (Harlequins) – 20 caps; 9 tries, 45 points
10 Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 10 caps; 1 try, 2 cons, 9 points
09 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN (Gloucester) – 40 caps; 3 tries, 43 cons, 85 pens, 356 points

01 Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 46 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
02 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) – 88 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
03 Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 2 caps
04 Richie Gray (Castres) – 45 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
05 Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 14 caps; 1 try, 5 points
06 Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 10 caps
07 John Hardie (unattached) – 1 cap
08 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby) – 27 caps

16 Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 9 caps
17 Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors) – 11 caps
18 Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons) – 6 caps, 1 try, 5 points
19 Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps
20 Alasdair Strokosch (Perpignan) – 45 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh Rugby) – 7 caps
22 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps, 1 try, 6 cons, 9 pens, 1 drop, 47 points
23 Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) – 96 caps, 14 tries, 70 points

RDW_Scotland wrote:Team is out -

Dickinson
Ford
Nel
Gray
Gray
Wilson
Hardie
Denton

Laidlaw
Russell
Scott
Bennett
Visser
Seymour
Maitland

Subs - Brown, Reid, Welsh. Swinson, Strokosh, Hidalgo-Clyne, Weir, Lamont

We're going for it!

This has disaster written all over it.

Does anyone else think it'll be a NZ vs France final?

Is our first choice 6 Wilson...no wait sorry I forgot about Struass. Phew.

Well it'll be nice to see how our near full strength team get on, I really hope "unscathed" is the end result.

Well, that looks pretty close to our first XV.

We should know a couple of things by bedtime on Saturday.

Can Batman play 6 against a top class back row?

Can Maitland play 15 well enough at this level?

Is Family Sized able to tackle like he once did? (No centres on the bench so it's the full 80 for him and )

Can Frodo resist the temptation to kick aimlessly to a very dangerous set of backs?

jimbopip wrote:Well, that looks pretty close to our first XV.

We should know a couple of things by bedtime on Saturday.

Can Batman play 6 against a top class back row?

Can Maitland play 15 well enough at this level?

Is Family Sized able to tackle like he once did? (No centres on the bench so it's the full 80 for him and )

Can Frodo resist the temptation to kick aimlessly to a very dangerous set of backs?

?? Who is family sized, I assumed it was family sized meatball (aka Weir) but his cheeks are firmly stapled to the bench, so is Scott now called Family Sized? if so why?

Once more for luck:

15 Sean Maitland (London Irish) – 15 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
14 Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 17 caps; 6 tries, 30 points
13 Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors) – 8 caps; 3 tries, 15 points
12 Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby) – 28 caps; 3 tries, 15 points
11 Tim Visser (Harlequins) – 20 caps; 9 tries, 45 points
10 Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 10 caps; 1 try, 2 cons, 9 points
09 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN (Gloucester) – 40 caps; 3 tries, 43 cons, 85 pens, 356 points

01 Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 46 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
02 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) – 88 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
03 Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 2 caps
04 Richie Gray (Castres) – 45 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
05 Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 14 caps; 1 try, 5 points
06 Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 10 caps
07 John Hardie (unattached) – 1 cap
08 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby) – 27 caps

16 Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 9 caps
17 Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors) – 11 caps
18 Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons) – 6 caps, 1 try, 5 points
19 Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps
20 Alasdair Strokosch (Perpignan) – 45 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh Rugby) – 7 caps
22 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps, 1 try, 6 cons, 9 pens, 1 drop, 47 points
23 Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) – 96 caps, 14 tries, 70 points

EWT Spoons wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Well, that looks pretty close to our first XV.

We should know a couple of things by bedtime on Saturday.

Can Batman play 6 against a top class back row?

Can Maitland play 15 well enough at this level?

Is Family Sized able to tackle like he once did? (No centres on the bench so it's the full 80 for him and )

Can Frodo resist the temptation to kick aimlessly to a very dangerous set of backs?

??  Who is family sized, I assumed it was family sized meatball (aka Weir) but his cheeks are firmly stapled to the bench, so is Scott now called Family Sized?  if so why?

I am also going to be charitable and suggest that Lamont can actually play centre.

EWT Spoons wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Well, that looks pretty close to our first XV.

We should know a couple of things by bedtime on Saturday.

Can Batman play 6 against a top class back row?

Can Maitland play 15 well enough at this level?

Is Family Sized able to tackle like he once did? (No centres on the bench so it's the full 80 for him and )

Can Frodo resist the temptation to kick aimlessly to a very dangerous set of backs?

??  Who is family sized, I assumed it was family sized meatball (aka Weir) but his cheeks are firmly stapled to the bench, so is Scott now called Family Sized?  if so why?

George I began referring to Matt Scott12 as Family Sized Meatball after the recent team pic in which he seems have Mike Cusack and Jim Hamilton hiding up his jersey.

Also, yes let's bring Schlong on to play against Wesley Fofana in the centres. That'll send us all to bed with a smile on our faces.

I'm going to assume that reply was aimed at me, despite calling me George.  You did however manage to use the quote function properly so will forgive the mistake in name.     BOOM (terrible) Banter!

Anyway, thanks for letting me know

Holy merde - I realised when I was typing out the OP what a monstrous French bench that is.

Not to worry though - we've got Tiny Tim and Glacial Al waiting in the wings.

sensisball wrote:Strong team for France - two excellent back rowers on the bench in Le Roux and Nyanga. No second row cover so maybe they will experiment by moving Chuly up to 4 when Pape tires and bring on Nyanga and  replace  Dusautoir after 50 with Le Roux.
This would mean a French pack back 5 with 4 back rowers (3 of them massive ball carriers and one hugely quick player) against our back row including an player with 1 cap and a bald man who is past his sell by date. Oh dear.

Chouly is too lightweight for the boiler room. The idea is to test Le Roux there. That's one of the reason PSA only took 3 locks for the RWC.
Otherwise its pretty much the first XV minus Maestri with some bench spots up for grabs.

To be fair France don't have a second row on the bench but Le Roux is about the same size as Swinson and Nyanga is only ever so slightly faster than Strokosch so it should be fine!

RDW_Scotland wrote:

BamBam wrote:What happened with Strauss?

He's not SQ until 4 days after the world cup kicks off.

Yes, it is that ridiculous.

Ah I see! I knew he was qualifying right before the tournament, but is that even before your first game?!

I must admit, that is pushing the limit on residency for me, if someone isn't qualified by the date the squads must be named, surely they shouldn't be eligible?

That's no knock on Scotland, he's a fine player and should be picked if the rules allow, but in this case the rules are wide of the mark for me

Whocares

I hadn't realized that LE Roux was about 5kg heavier than Chouly, so maybe your call is right, although I have seen Chouly finish a game or two at second row for Clermont. More bulk by putting Le Roux in the front five but less pace around the fringe by leaving Chouly in the back row. Maybe depends on how the scrum is going as to who ends up where?

BamBam wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:

BamBam wrote:What happened with Strauss?

He's not SQ until 4 days after the world cup kicks off.

Yes, it is that ridiculous.

Ah I see! I knew he was qualifying right before the tournament, but is that even before your first game?!

I must admit, that is pushing the limit on residency for me, if someone isn't qualified by the date the squads must be named, surely they shouldn't be eligible?

That's no knock on Scotland, he's a fine player and should be picked if the rules allow, but in this case the rules are wide of the mark for me

Yes he's available for the first game, just not any of the warm ups.

The back story to this is that Glasgow first signed a Tongan number 8 but things didn't really work out - he was released from his contract after just a few weeks. Glasgow then approached Strauss and he signed in mid-September. If only they had approached Strauss first none of this would have been an issue!

RDW_Scotland wrote:

BamBam wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:

BamBam wrote:What happened with Strauss?

He's not SQ until 4 days after the world cup kicks off.

Yes, it is that ridiculous.

Ah I see! I knew he was qualifying right before the tournament, but is that even before your first game?!

I must admit, that is pushing the limit on residency for me, if someone isn't qualified by the date the squads must be named, surely they shouldn't be eligible?

That's no knock on Scotland, he's a fine player and should be picked if the rules allow, but in this case the rules are wide of the mark for me

Yes he's available for the first game, just not any of the warm ups.

The back story to this is that Glasgow first signed a Tongan number 8 but things didn't really work out - he was released from his contract after just a few weeks.  Glasgow then approached Strauss and he signed in mid-September.  If only they had approached Strauss first none of this would have been an issue!

It would ordinarily be ridiculous to drop in a player who had not played in any warm up games, but with Scotland there are valid reasons why this is not the case.

Scotland only has 2 pro clubs from which most players are drawn - exemplified by the fact that Glasgow is losing more players to the RWC than any other NH club (20). This means that unlike England - where a player from, say, Exeter would have had little game time with his colleagues without the benefit of warm up games and run the risk of not gelling with any of the other players who are likely to come from a wide variety of other Aviva clubs - Strauss will be surrounded by his Glasgow colleagues and be well used to their strengths and weaknesses.

So, mad for other teams, justifiable for Scotland when a player has the potential to be as influential as Strauss.

Well my theories are all blown out the water - looks like Vern wants to throw the kitchen sink at France as a dry run for South Africa/Samoa.

I find it really odd that Swinson isn't starting this one after being picked virtually straight from injury. He's going to be pretty undercooked going into this tournament.

Still, the key now is for there to be no injuries, particularly to Russell and Bennett.

So is this a realistic list of order of importance that they not get injured? By importance I mean their absence would reduce the strength of our first XV, or our call-up replacement would weaken the wider squad.

We’re doomed!

Dickinson
Ford
Nel

Gray jnr

Strauss
Denton

Russell
Bennett
Hogg

Please please please don’t get injured

Any of the replacement front row
Gray snr
Gilchrist
Scott
Any of the wingers

Meh

The rest!

EWT Spoons wrote:I'm going to assume that reply was aimed at me, despite calling me George.  You did however manage to use the quote function properly so will forgive the mistake in name.     BOOM (terrible) Banter!

Anyway, thanks for letting me know

Mr Spoons, I'm trying to upgrade my Spotify account, correct the wild inaccuracies on my Facebook profile, use the qoute function correctly, be funny/insightful/ witty AND you want me to use people's names correctly.

Nothing to do with rugby, but....

I paid off my mortgage yesterday....

RDW_Scotland wrote:So is this a realistic list of order of importance that they not get injured? By importance I mean their absence would reduce the strength of our first XV, or our call-up replacement would weaken the wider squad.

We’re doomed!

Dickinson
Ford
Nel

Gray jnr

Strauss
Denton

Russell
Bennett
Hogg

Please please please don’t get injured

Any of the replacement front row
Gray snr
Gilchrist
Scott
Any of the wingers

Meh

The rest!

Surely there's another category: "Thanks for Coming"

Tim Swinson
Al Strokosch
Duncan Weir

jimbopip wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:I'm going to assume that reply was aimed at me, despite calling me George.  You did however manage to use the quote function properly so will forgive the mistake in name.     BOOM (terrible) Banter!

Anyway, thanks for letting me know

Mr Spoons, I'm trying to upgrade my Spotify account, correct the wild inaccuracies on my Facebook profile, use the qoute function correctly, be funny/insightful/ witty AND you want me to use people's names correctly.  

Nothing to do with rugby, but....

I paid off my mortgage yesterday....

Could somebody please bar this man immediately!!?

I applied for a 30 year mortgage yesterday......

Fes, I find myself in the strange position of being newly retired (early, very early retirement mind) and mortgage free, I'm looking at jobs on the interweb and thinking "Meh, maybe after the World Cup".

Oh and two weeks till the rugby season starts down here and Young Pippetto says I've got to keep playing, what should I do?

Mind you if Strokes can play at the World Cup....

jimbopip wrote:Fes, I find myself in the strange position of being newly retired (early, very early retirement mind) and mortgage free, I'm looking at jobs on the interweb and thinking "Meh, maybe after the World Cup".

Oh and two weeks till the rugby season starts down here and Young Pippetto says I've got to keep playing, what should I do?

Mind you if Strokes can play at the World Cup....

I think the selection of Strokosch has given hope to us all. In fact I'm just off to shave my head.

Looking at jobs on the interweb - surely there are plenty Weegie chatrooms dedicated to that sort of thing?

Jimbo - how many times?

'Squatters in Braintree don't need mortgages'.

George Carlin wrote:Jimbo - how many times?

'Squatters in Braintrees don't need mortgages'.

Fixed that for you, GC.

our bench better take some K-Y jelly with them!

tigertattie wrote:our bench better take some K-Y jelly with them!

....because of Schlong??

sensisball wrote:Whocares

I hadn't realized that LE Roux was about 5kg heavier than Chouly, so maybe your call is right, although I have seen Chouly finish a game or two at second row for Clermont. More bulk by putting Le Roux in the front five but less pace around the fringe by leaving Chouly in the back row. Maybe depends on how the scrum is going as to who ends up where?

The only reason Chouly is in the team is for line out reasons. For me he's not even good enough at 8 for this kind of level and doesnt have enough grunt to make a decent lock (not sure about the height as well). Le Roux is agressive enough and could be worth a try. If anything I prefer backrowers covering lock than the other way around!

Bit harsh on Chouly, he does a lot more than win lineout IMO. Does the small, unflash stuff really well. Thinking back to the Ficou try that did for England in Paris in 2013. The try was only scored because Chouly straightened the line, rode a double tackle and offloaded to keep the move alive. Most forwards would simply have shovelled it out to the wing and the move would have died as England had plenty of defenders on that side.
He also has a great engine, keeps going for the full 80. His ability to play across the back row (best at 6 then 8 then 7) makes him a really useful member of the french back row.
As you say his lineout work is outstanding, particularly important if Pape is your starting 4, as he is a pretty average lineout SR.

Ah, so that makes Chouly Dusatoir's Batman.

Indeed but better behaved (and with a more stylish outfit) in the french equivalent of a kebab shop!

The French have apparently said they view this game as a chance to get a big points victory to give them confidence going into the world cup - could be a long evening!

Also, Hogg has been ruled out for 10-14 days. No bad thing really.

RDW_Scotland wrote:The French have apparently said they view this game as a chance to get a big points victory to give them confidence going into the world cup - could be a long evening!

Also, Hogg has been ruled out for 10-14 days. No bad thing really.

Not really convinced by that. I'd rather that Cotter had proactively rested him thus allowing him to continue to train and maintain his fitness.

Maitland always needed to play this game at fullback anyway, and should play the full 80 minutes.

Love the confidence from the French camp. Cotter has gone full strength for this one, a gamble in my view, and if we aren't competitive then we ought to be worried.

This is now a real indication of where we are

Against a good french side, a almost full team, if we get blown away, then it is worrying

If we win, it will be a wake up call for other teams and awesome

If we are competitive but lose - then we are stagnant


So we have the options

worrying
Stagnant
awesome


bit like my day to day life ;-)

My take on the possible outcomes:

If we win it'll be because France were awful, the weather was poor and the ref was one-eyed.

If we are competitive but lose, it'll be business as usual, with Scotland once again fulfilling the role in sport that we are destined to fill.

If we get completely humped, it'll be down to forces completely outwith Cotter's control: the ref, structural problems in Scottish rugby which he and Scott Johnson inherited, player error and the ref again. It'll also be accompanied by soundbites like "we're still on track to win the World Cup" and "judge me on the World Cup". When questionned about the lack of impact coming from the bench (Strokosch and Swinson), he will look all stern face again, get cross, and explain to journalists that both are World Class and his judgement is not to be questionned. He wants big and physical players (apart from Hamilton and Toolis), and players who are fast and can compete above the ground (apart from Cowan and Barclay). In short he wants players who can play a certain way, you know, Wooden Spoon sort of players who the French can thrash.

Blimey FES, bad morning?

I thought I was upset about Barclay!

Oh yes. I've had compliance in my office this morning.....

Ah so that scraps setting up a 606 pot to bribe Cotter to drop Strokosh, I don't think it'd sit well with improper payment

It would be cheaper and easier to bribe the French to take him out when he comes off the bench. That said, he's so "teak tough" and "physical" that I suspect he's injury proof.

funnyExiledScot wrote:It would be cheaper and easier to bribe the French to take him out when he comes off the bench. That said, he's so "teak tough" and "physical" that I suspect he's injury proof.

It's difficult to get injured when you're going into contact at walking pace

Jokes aside, I will now feel terrible if Strokosch gets an injury, it's not his fault that the coaches seem to rate his distinctly mediocre calibre.

I know, I really don't wish him any ill. In the summer tour to South Africa a couple of seasons back he was absolutely outstanding, and in his pomp was a very good 6 indeed. He's in the squad now, so I hope he can recapture some of that form.

Tbh this is a great game to have - both teams are match-fit and playing good rugby. 

I think we'll lose because this just feels like a quality French team. They have appeared organised and composed in the set piece and their backs like Bsateraud and Spedding have been on top form. 

What's important for us is not the result but the performance of the backs, ensuring they are sharper and just play more intelligently. I felt vs Italy quite a bit of back play felt rushed and forced. There were quite a few knock-ons and attack that had no real urgency. Also it'll be good to be tested again in defence on the 5m line and have pressure scrums and mauls to defend.

Nematode wrote:Tbh this is a great game to have - both teams are match-fit and playing good rugby. 

I think we'll lose because this just feels like a quality French team. They have appeared organised and composed in the set piece and their backs like Bsateraud and Spedding have been on top form. 

What's important for us is not the result but the performance of the backs, ensuring they are sharper and just play more intelligently. I felt vs Italy quite a bit of back play felt rushed and forced. There were quite a few knock-ons and attack that had no real urgency. Also it'll be good to be tested again in defence on the 5m line and have pressure scrums and mauls to defend.

Agree RE the backs at the Italy game. They looked raring to go but perhaps caught some white line fever early on. This said we still managed to rock in 6 tries which tempers the mistakes slightly. I think they should be a bit sharper this week (famous last words) as they've had more time playing in match situations now.

Laidlaw's delivery still concerns me, even with our forwards on the ascendency against Italy he managed to dawdle around the back of the ruck. Pyrgos is far better, and I always get the impression he's more in tune with the backline (probably the Glasgow continuity coming in). But he's our captain now so we'll have to make do. I just hope his service is faster against France because otherwise we'll play 10 phases on the half way and end up back on our 5. I almost wish Gilchrist had been picked as captain, although we would be missing out on Gray Snr his position doesn't have quite as extreme an impact on our go-forward play.

I think it'll be tighter than we expect. I'm going with France 20 Scotland 12. If we iron out the mistakes and be a bit more clinical it could be closer still or even... Dare I say it... A win. France will target this game but so will we.

Well, as a ....neutral............   what I hope for this game is that Scotland forces France to come out and play their best game.  I want to see what these Frenchies plan to bring to our Pool Party.  So no secrets or holding things back from them.  And in order to achieve that, the Scots will have to get under their skin and prove that France will have to do more than cruise through.

If that all pans out, then of course Scotland will be allowed to go on and beat the bejaysus out of them with my blessing  But first you have to make them play honestly.

The key to shaking this French side will be to get to Michalak and knock him off his natural rhythm. John Hardie, a player of such high quality that in 50 minutes of pre-season warm-up he has brushed aside Cowan, Barclay and Watson, will be the openside tasked with getting in his face. It'll be an interesting showdown.

Just noticed that the Scots thread gets nice photos for their teams, how convenient GC...

yappysnap wrote:Just noticed that the Scots thread gets nice photos for their teams, how convenient GC...

You're still upset about Caine and Gambon!? When Scotland played Ireland, we had Ardel O'Hanlon against Rikki Fulton in their well known priest personas...

I am not going to be able to watch this game (Mrs Cake thinks Saturday nights should be spent enjoying each others company, a good movie and couple bottles of wine) I don't really care about the result, I just would like there to be no injuries.