RBS 6 Nations - Scotland vs France - 26/02/2012, 15:30

[Feicarsinn]

Murrayfield (26/02/2012 - 15:00)

Ref: Wayne Barnes​

 

[RedCard]

A good tester for the French and far from easy. Be very interesting to see just how good they are with the new set-up? People are expecting a lot from them and you'd expect this to be a comfortable win but could be one of those banana skins.

 

[Mogs999]

totally agree, the Scots were def up for it against Wales but they need to focus their aggression and passion. those yellow cards cost them dearly! Having Laidlaw in at 10 gives them an attacking dimension which they never had with Parks.

 

[Seaton]

Just please don't let Jackson be involved...

 

[bushytop]

Don't think anybody actually knows what to expect from the French... and that statement just carries more weight with the passage of time.

I expect the Scots to have built a lot of confidence from their defeat to Wales and I genuinely believe they are on the verge of an impressive win in a competitive test match. If D'usatoir (? struggle to spell Welsh names let alone French) has a quiet match Scotland will squeak a win.

 

[French TommyGun]

. Le XV français : Médard - Clerc, Rougerie, Fofana, Malzieu - (o) Trinh-Duc, (m) Parra - Harinordoquy, Picamoles, Dusautoir - Maestri, Papé - Mas, Szarzewski, Poux

Remplaçants : Servat, Debaty, Nallet, Bonnaire, J.Dupuy, Beauxis, Mermoz

I'm glad they decided to keep the same team that was supposed to play Ireland. The only thing I might have changed is Bonnaire to start and have Picamoles come on fresh off the bench to penetrate a tired Scottish line.
I don't think it'll be a walk through the park by any means but I am however quite confident France will win this one =]

 

[French TommyGun]

I know its a little childish but Bilbo Robinson (or Andy Baggins which ever one you prefer) is pretty funny!

 

[Ewan25]

Despite Scotland having some very good spells v Wales and looking enterprising, that french 15 is jam packed full of quality players and are likely to penetrate the scottish line with ease. another spirited scottish performance is on the cards and hopefully we can hurt France but lets be honest, they are world class and Scotland aren't. I'm optimistic but on their day France are incredible. the only team in the 6 nations I don't resent losing to really. admittedly, that means a lot of annual resentment! sometimes they don't travel well and do some mental stuff but we're the most likely to be unable to punish stupid mistakes.

what do you reckon the scotland XV will be? I reckon my changes would be Blair to start and Barclay to replace strokosch. Hogg to start at full back and Rory Lamont to switch to wing. Laidlaw at 10, S Lamont at 12 is not ideal as he is one dimensional but we don't have riches there, was a fan of Morrisona while ago but he is just a battering ram with zero offloading skills. I grudglingly suppose De Luca is on target to start as well despite not really displaying his edinburgh form in the scotland jersey. no evans or ansbro at the moment confirms this. What about Scott at 13? unlikely as Robinson seems a little conservative with his selection. prob Lee Jones at 14.

the forwards don't need much messing about with. jacobsen, ford and cross I reckon. Ford has been carrying very well. Gray and Hamilton have benn good. grayu in particular has been excellent. Denton and Rennie have been exceptional so far. barclay at 6 or you all reckon barclay and rennie might play left and right? my XV is:

15 Hogg
14 Jones
13 De Luca
12 S Lamont
11 R Lamont
10 Laidlaw
9 Blair
8 Denton
7 Rennie
6 Barclay
5 Gray
4 Hamilton
3 Cross
2 Ford (capt)
1 Jacobsen

whadda y'all reckon???

 

[coonor]

I'm coming up to Murrayfield all the way from Guernsey to see this so it better be good!!! Anyone else going to the game? what are the good pubs around the stadium?

 

[Ewan25]

Hi Coonor, to be honest most of the pubs around Murrayfield, of which there are many, are all much of a muchness. busy. sell booze. the main thing is to makew sure you make the most of the walk to the stadium from the town. folk are generally very friendly. in town, if you stick to rose st, I think robertsons is cool. and rugby friendly. if you head towards thre royal mile, The Malt Shovel on Cockburn st has an incredible selection of fine whiskies and real ales. there are too many great pubs to visit in one weekend in Edinburgh so just enjoy yourself. depends on your crowd really. there are swanky pubs, earthy pubs, busy pubs, cheap pubs and good old fashioned pubs all over edinburgh. as a Glaswegian I freely admit, Edinburgh has better pubs than Glasgow although both have some crackers. there's just something about a good edinburgh pub on a cold 6 nations day that is hard to beat. hope you have a good day.

 

[Zed]

I think it will be close and I wouldn't be surprised if Scotland won, they've got nothing to lose and they'll throw everything at the Frogs.

 

[bushytop]

Probably gonna be controversial but am a little surprised by the faith most TRF posters seem to have in the French. Yes they have an AMAZING league and infrastructure, yes they made it to the RWC final when totally at odds with their coach, yes they have some (lots) very good players... but

Their league is starting to function like the Barclays Premiership of that spherically ball'd sport... in that its filled with highly paid imports (something I think will only increase) preventing opportunities for home grown youth/talent... & it hasn't worked out too great for the English football team.

France were awesome in the RWC final but were bloody turgid in EVERY other game. I know they had their off field issues but knowing the French, that was the one thing that could've united them in the end anyway.

They currently have a squad full of experience and talent that is PROBABLY the strongest (depth wise) in the championship but I feel that the Irish and Welsh squads very close with England not too far behind.

Also while Saint-Andre is a proven coach, he has had one game so far and generally new coaches take time to implement their ideas.


Last but not least the old "you don't know which French team will turn up" issue.


I'm not saying France are a bad side at all (they can be fantastic) but like I said I've been surprised by the faith a lot of British and Irish posters have in them.

Apart from that... vive la France.

 

[Seaton]

Why?

WHHHYYYY!!!???!!!

What. The. F***ing. Hell.

Hogg
R Lamont
S Lamont
Morrison
Jones
Laidlaw
Blair

Jacobson
Ford
Cross
Hamilton
Gray
Barclay
Rennie
Denton

Subs: S Lawson, Kalman, Kellock, Vernon, Cusiter, Weir, De Luca

WWWHHHHYYYY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?!?

Now Robinson can kindly f** off if we finish bottom.

ARGH! I R MAD bro!!!

I challenge TRF to name a worse Tier 1 or Tier 2 international centre combination.

I'll then be official TRF ***** for a week.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Surely a step up over De Luca though? I noticed he's made the bench though
Good to see Hogg get a start.

 

[Melhor Time]

Why?

WHHHYYYY!!!???!!!

What. The. F***ing. Hell.

Hogg
R Lamont
S Lamont
Morrison
Jones
Laidlaw
Blair

Jacobson
Ford
Cross
Hamilton
Gray
Barclay
Rennie
Denton

Subs: S Lawson, Kalman, Kellock, Vernon, Cusiter, Weir, De Luca

WWWHHHHYYYY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?!?

Now Robinson can kindly f** off if we finish bottom.

ARGH! I R MAD bro!!!

I challenge TRF to name a worse Tier 1 or Tier 2 international centre combination.

I'll then be official TRF ***** for a week.

Why = for defence.

Morrison is a mean tackler. Shame he is not an attacking threat!

Watch for Scotland to score nine points only - three penalties.

 

[Seaton]

Surely a step up over De Luca though? I noticed he's made the bench though
Good to see Hogg get a start.

The only consolation is that it is better than Morrison/ de Luca.

Morrison does not fit in with Laidlaw's style at all, at least Lamont has a modicum of pace and can spot a gap. Two players, one who can't pass and the other who won't pass next to each other is a disaster waiting to happen in the centres.

It is not as though Morrison has been doing well for Glasgow either! He's been dire at best in all departments.

ARGH! HULK SMASH KEYBOARD! f.fs\zthinhyw4jo
ef
3rowef8/fwesadf

 

[Scotsmanslanj]

I think it mostly depends on whether France turn up or not. Mostly the Scottish defence has been solid, but their attack still stalls, getting across the line (twice) v Wales notwithstanding, and if we're hoping to drag France into the ground and grind out a win by kicking then I reckon we've had it. Be nice if they kept the bloody ball in hand once or twice instead of kicking it away and all. So if they have a proper go, show more of the attack and coordination they did against Wales (mad 15 minutes aside *wincing in pain at the memory*) then I reckon they can beat an off-form France and make it a tight match if the real France turn up.
Would also be nice if we didn't have the inevitable game of "look for the positives: they played well in that defeat" afterwards. That's getting old...

 

[French TommyGun]

France are going to smash it! Sorry, but they have such a good team at the moment and I'm talking about the coaching team as well. PSA is a much better coach than ML ever was and I feel that he'll bring much needed consistency to France. All our backs are amazing and no disrespect to Scotland but they're going to have a field day! Allez les Bleus! =]

 

[retardedgenius]

Why?

WHHHYYYY!!!???!!!

What. The. F***ing. Hell.

Hogg
R Lamont
S Lamont
Morrison
Jones
Laidlaw
Blair

Jacobson
Ford
Cross
Hamilton
Gray
Barclay
Rennie
Denton

Subs: S Lawson, Kalman, Kellock, Vernon, Cusiter, Weir, De Luca

WWWHHHHYYYY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?!?

Now Robinson can kindly f** off if we finish bottom.

ARGH! I R MAD bro!!!

I challenge TRF to name a worse Tier 1 or Tier 2 international centre combination.

I'll then be official TRF ***** for a week.

wilkinson/farrell senior ?

 

[Seaton]

wilkinson/farrell senior ?

Hmmm, at least they had skills.

As I said later on the Morrison/ de Luca partnership is worse though, so I retrench my offer.