A wounded beast. Never since the start of the Fabien Galthié era has the French team seemed so fragile. Four months after the disillusionment of the elimination of the World Cup by South Africa (29-28), a week after the slap suffered at the Vélodrome against the XV du Trèfle (38-17), the Blues surrender, Saturday February 10 (at 3:15 p.m. live on France 2 and france.tv), at Murrayfield to challenge an ambitious Chardon XV.
Two changes in the starting XV of France
Compared to the defeat against Ireland, Fabien Galthié made only two changes to his starting team. On the second line, Cameron Woki takes the place of Paul Willemse, expelled in Marseille and suspended, to regain a starting place that he had during the World Cup. Ditto for Louis Bielle-Biarrey on the wing, who succeeds Yoram Moefana, who was little in the spotlight last week.
Scotland knows the recipe
Victorious (27-26) in Wales last week, Gregor Townsend’s team has the opportunity to prove that it represents one of Fabien Galthié’s nightmares. After being the first (and only) team to defeat (28-17) France in the 2020 Six Nations Tournament, the first (and only) to come and win in France in the 2021 edition, Scotland had added a victory (again at home) during the preparation matches for the World Cup. With three successes, it is the nation which has beaten the Blues most often since 2020.
Find a conquest
Against Ireland, the French were mishandled in many areas, particularly on the touchline. They will try to rectify the situation in the air and rely on one of the rare satisfactions of the first match, the scrum. This is rather good, Scotland were copiously dominated in this sector in Cardiff last Saturday and conceded, in total, 16 penalties. The Blues could feed off this indiscipline.