Scotland v France
Philippe Saint-André criticised some of his players for acting like crybabies in Cardiff, moaning to the referee Alain Rolland when decisions went against them, but it is the head coach who will be reaching for his handkerchief if France slump to defeat against Scotland at Murrayfield.
Les Bleus have not lost in Scotland for eight years and Saint-André reacted to their biggest defeat in Cardiff for 64 years by making seven changes for today. Some were enforced but he has opted for a back row in which all three players will be making their first starts in the Six Nations, and he does not have a regular goal-kicker on a ground where the worm-infested playing surface makes running rugby hazardous.
“The players left out who are not injured have been punished either for their performances or their lack of self-control,” said Saint-André. “We are expecting a response and we must always respect the decisions of the referee. Too many crybabies in Cardiff made things difficult for the captain, Pascal Papé.”
Not that Papé helped himself by conceding dumb penalties, including an early one in the range of Leigh Halfpenny which helped give Wales the strong start they were looking for after a demoralising defeat in Dublin. There is a feeling in France that Saint-André is one bad defeat away from dismissal, never mind the proximity of the World Cup, with the national side showing the same disarray that blighted the previous regime: Saint-André's fault, as it were.
Late comeback
Scotland will be buoyed by their late comeback in Rome in the last round, but their former wing Kenny Logan this week described the team's displays in the tournament as rubbish and questioned whether the interim head coach, Scott Johnson, who will give way to Vern Cotter in the summer, had a coherent selection policy with established forwards such as Richie Gray, Kelly Brown and David Denton dropped and then recalled.
“We have lacked any vision: our line-out has been poor, as have our scrum and ball-presentation. I do not think Johnson has an idea of what he is doing in selection. He finished with the right team in Rome, but we should not think beating Italy makes a successful season. We have managed to not get the wooden spoon, which is not good enough. We have the players and coaching is the key,” he said.
Scotland scent an opportunity and it looks different from the second round when they lost at home to England by 20 points and France won by the same margin against Italy. The worm has turned.
Guardian Service
