Scotland v France: Scots seeking first win in 10 years
Last Updated: 13/03/16 2:28pm
We look at five talking points ahead of Scotland v France at Murrayfield, including France's 10-year winning streak.
France have had an indifferent start to life under Guy Noves, but that won't mean they will be an easy challenge for Scotland. The Scots find themselves one place above the bottom of the Six Nations table, and will be looking to back up their win over Italy with an historical victory over the French.
Where will the game be won and lost? We look at five key talking points.
Scottish pressure eases
Scotland's victory over Italy in the last round halted a nine-game run of defeats in the tournament, and John Hardie admits his team breathed a huge sigh of relief as the final whistle blew in Rome.
"We were never too far away," said Hardie. "We were just one or two performances away from opening this Six Nations up.
"We tried to stay positive. We knew we were close to a big display and it is great to get that pressure off our shoulders."
The Kiwi-born flanker believes the victory will allow the Scots to express themselves more for the remainder of the tournament.
"Hopefully now that the pressure is off a bit, we can really express ourselves in our last two games against France and Ireland.
"I think we can now look to end on a couple of really good wins. We're good enough to win these next two games and really push on.
"If we do that I will be really happy with how we are progressing as a team."
Dismal decade
Scotland may have removed the monkey from their back in terms of consecutive Six Nations losses, but there is still a statistic that won't fill Scotland with any confidence.
In the last 18 encounters between the two sides, Scotland have won just once.
In February 2006 Jason White captained the Scots to a 20-16 win over Les Bleus at Murrayfield thanks to a pair of tries from Sean Lamont.
Before that win, you'd have to travel back to the 1999 Five Nations, where two tries apiece from Alan Tait and Martin Leslie put Scotland on their way to a trophy-winning season.
It has not been happy reading for the Scottish fans in the professional era, but surely there has been no better opportunity for them in recent times to change the record books?
France may have picked up wins in the opening two rounds, but their performances were mixed, and Vern Cotter's side will consider them vulnerable.
Beat the French at their own game
Dewi Morris has called for Scotland to build on their victory over Italy and give France a lesson in attacking rugby at Murrayfield.
Despite their terrible record against Les Bleus, Morris says Cotter's side have nothing to fear of the dysfunctional French side.
"Scotland played well against Italy and they don't want that to be a false dawn," said Morris. "I don't think they'll go back into their shells.
"With the Gray brothers in the second row they can get a good percentage of ball. They've a good honest back row. They must go for France's throat.
"I've been so frustrated with France, like everyone else. Guy Noves was described as their saviour; they obviously haven't been watching Toulouse over the past few years.
"Scotland should actually play with a bit of old Gallic flair and teach France a lesson. Keep the pace up because France won't be able to live with them."
Meet the challenge
It may be the idea of the French to play with flair, and sometimes it comes off, but there is one constant with Noves' men and that's a bruising mindset.
It's never easy to come up against the French forwards and Cotter is expecting no different this weekend.
"If you look at the French rugby culture, the first thing they talk about is physicality, winning their one-on-ones and dominating up front," said Cotter.
"We know that is what they have been talking about but we also know it's coming. We need to get ready for it.
"We will need to keep them behind the advantage line as much as we can but that will be difficult to contain."
To add to his defence, Cotter has called up 16-stone Dunbar at centre following a year of injury frustration, while South African-born number eight Strauss will add power to the pack after replacing Ryan Wilson.
"Josh provides a different profile. If you analyse the two, he has a little more carry, a little bit more power and presence in the game.
"Alex has played well too. He offers something that perhaps we haven't seen until now and a change-up may cause them a few headaches preparing for the game."
Same old France?
The results have been mixed, the performances indifferent and the game-plan absent, so in many ways it's the same old France, even with new coach Noves.
And to follow suit, Noves has shown that France still have trouble settling on a team, with six changes to his side for the trip to Edinburgh.
In one of the bigger changes, Francois Trinh-Duc is brought in for Jules Plisson, with Noves saying that Trihn-Duc was always going to start.
"Francois (Trinh-Duc) was among the first called, he was in our plans," Noves said on Friday.
"With Jules (Plisson), they hold the key for us. Jules has played three matches, so it will be interesting to see (Trinh-Duc) in action in the game."
Another change sees Wesley Fofana come into the side not in the midfield but on the wing, a change that Noves apparently made for novelty factor.
"Given the strength that we have available, it seemed interesting to see him on the wing. We did not want to ignore this option and it should be a lot of fun," said Noves.
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Willem Nel, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 John Barclay, 7 John Hardie, 8 Josh Strauss.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Moray Low, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Sean Lamont.
France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud; 1 Jefferson Poirot, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Yoann Maestri, 5 Alexandre Flancquart, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 7 Damien Chouly; 8 Yacouba Camara.
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Vincent Pelo, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Sebastien Bezy, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Maxime Medard.
