Six Nations: Scotland defence coach Matt Taylor wary of France

Scotland defence coach Matt Taylor has warned his squad that France will pose a potent attacking threat in Saturday's Six Nations opener in Paris.

Scotland scored five tries against both Tonga and Argentina in November and with Les Bleus also expected to play an expansive game, Taylor is predicting fireworks at the Stade de France.

Taylor told the Scottish Rugby Union's YouTube channel: "France is always a team that likes to play and so are we, so I think it's going to be a great game.

"With how we played in the autumn and how France played in the autumn, it's going to be a great game.

"We are not daunted by going over to France, we are looking at it as a great opportunity.

"From what we can make out and with the stats, they are certainly playing a more expansive game than they have in the past.

"They have always got a strong scrum and they have a strong lineout drive, which we know about, but also they have got some really good backs: Teddy Thomas is a really good player; (Yoann) Huget on the wing is an exciting player; they have (Mathieu) Bastareaud - so they have strong carriers.

"But they are certainly trying to play a wider type of game and we will need to be shutting that down for us to have a chance of winning."

"I think in the autumn we defended reasonably well," added Taylor.

"We kept Tonga try-less, which is a really good achievement for any international team.

"New Zealand had two tries and for one of the best attacking teams in the world, that wasn't too bad. We stopped them playing in many regards.

Against Argentina, unfortunately we took our foot of the gas defensively and we had a few discipline problems right at the end which allowed them to gain a couple of tries.

"Against Argentina, unfortunately we took our foot of the gas defensively and we had a few discipline problems right at the end which allowed them to gain a couple of tries, which was disappointing. But overall we did a reasonably good job defensively in the autumn."