Rugby
2012-02-26 - Scotland vs France
A Sports Betting Pick by Paddy
Rugby : Six Nations 2012
Sunday 26th February 2012, 15:00 (local)
Scotland continue to struggle in the Six Nations and it gets no easier this Sunday as they welcome France. We’ve seen less of the French than expected this season due to the late postponement of their match a fortnight ago, but Les Bleus have an excellent record against this weekend’s opponents.
Can France continue their bid for a Grand Slam or can Scotland cause an upset at Murrayfield?
Scotland
Their Scots 27-13 defeat to Wales may have been Scotland’s fourth defeat in a row - but at least Andy Robinson’s men scored a try for the first time in five matches. However, tie in Italy on 17th March looks set to decide this year’s wooden spoon.
Despite recent results, Scotland continue to improve under their English coach. For example, after Dan Parks’ sudden retirement, replacement Gregg Laidlaw scored all his side’s points in the defeat at the Millennium Stadium.
Stuart Hogg and Ross Rennie also had terrific games against Wales and, but for some crucial errors early in the second half, the result might have been very different.
Robinson may be forced into more changes this weekend as wing Max Evans and lock forward Jim Hamilton were unable to train when the squad gathered at Murrayfield on Monday.
In addition, Glasgow Warriors stand-off Ruaridh Jackson has been added to Scotland’s squad. Jackson has recovered from a hamstring injury and has featured in the Warriors’ last two matches.
France
Grand Slam favourites France head north this weekend to face Scotland
France looking to make it two wins out of two.
After a solid performance against Italy, the late postponement of France’s match against Ireland a fortnight ago means we’ve yet to really see how the team is faring under new coach Philippe Saint-Andre.
However, Les Bleus ran in four well-taken tries in their 30-12 win over Italy and put in a decent second half performance. Centre Wesley Fofana was superb on his debut and bagged a try as did fellow centre Aurélien Rougerie and wings Vincent Clerc and Julien Malzieu.
I don’t expect Saint-Andre to make many changes for this match although his team are likely to have to play better than they did against the Italians. France were the pre-tournament favourites and haven’t lost to the Scots at the Stade de France since 1999.
Head to Head
23 Mar 2002 Scotland 10-22 France at Murrayfield
21 Mar 2004 Scotland 0-31 France at Murrayfield
05 Feb 2006 Scotland 20-16 France at Murrayfield
03 Feb 2008 Scotland 6-27 France at Murrayfield
07 Feb 2010 Scotland 9-18 France at Murrayfield
Scotland have improved in recent seasons, and won here six years ago, but generally France have been able to win by a comfortable margin.
Verdict
It doesn’t look promising for Scotland this Sunday. Scotland have won only one of the last 13 meetings against France and have lost five of the last six Murrayfield meetings between the two sides. Some of those defeats have also been comprehensive, including a 27-6 France win in 2008 and a 31-0 thumping in 2004.
Despite Gregg Laidlaw’s try late on against Wales I still don’t really see where Scotland’s tries are coming from and so I think they will struggle to contain a French side gunning for the Grand Slam.
Considering France’s form, talent and recent convincing wins over Scotland I’d have no hesitation backing France to overcome their 6 point handicap at 10/11.
The Pick :
France to win
