Threatened by Ireland in the opening, the Blues travel this Saturday (3:15 p.m.) to Murrayfield to challenge the Chardon XV.
Where to see Scotland-France
After sinking at the Stade Vélodrome against Ireland, the French XV is looking for redemption, this Saturday (3:15 p.m.), in Scotland, for the second day of the Six Nations Tournament. The match will kick off this Saturday at 3:15 p.m. in the always incandescent Murrayfield stadium. A meeting broadcast live on France 2, with Matthieu Lartot and Dimitri Yachvili on commentary. A match which will also be followed live with commentary on our site from Figaro, with enlightened comments from the sparkling Quentin Marchal. A meeting refereed by the Australian (and former Racing player) Nic Berry.
The specter of the third defeat
Two down. After being eliminated by South Africa in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, the XV of France attacked the Six Nations Tournament with a correction against Ireland, at the Stade Vélodrome, conceding the heaviest defeat since the arrival of Fabien Galthié as coach in 2020. It was only the second time since Galthié took office that the Tricolores conceded two defeats in a row.
This had already happened in 2021 with a setback against Scotland at the end of the Tournament (23-27) then a defeat on tour in Australia the following summer (23-21). Each time, a few months passed between these two defeats. The Blues of Galthié have never lost two matches in a row in the Tournament. They have never lost three times in a row.
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Penaud delights against Scotland
The Blues winger panics the counters. Despite the defeat received in Marseille, Damien Penaud – once again – managed to score a try for the French team, perfectly offset by his opener and teammate at UBB, Matthieu Jalibert. The former Clermontois now has 36 tries registered with the French team and is only two short of the record established by Serge Blanco (38). A record which could be erased from this edition of the 2024 Tournament. Especially since Scotland is an opponent who is doing well for him.
In a preparation match this summer against the XV du Chardon, he scored once. If he had remained silent during the last confrontation between the two teams last year in the Tournament, he had scored a double during the 2022 edition and scored a try in 2021 and 2020. Note that the one registered in 2021, absolutely beautiful, was elected essay of the year (video above). For the moment, Damian Penaud remains on 14 achievements during his last 10 selections for the French team. Machine. “He reminds us of his stats from time to timeconfided Thomas Ramos with a smile this week. He is only 27 years old, so yes, he will overtake Serge Blanco. Damian is one of the best players in the world. He could be THE best but he doesn’t care about that.»
A back line that shone against Italy
With the return as holder of Louis Bielle-Biarrey in place of Yoram Moefana, the XV of France will present at Murrayfield the attack line that during the offensive recital offered against Italy (60-7), at the last Coupe du rugby world. Against the Nazionale, the Blues scored eight tries and impressed with the intensity they showed throughout the game. Note that UBB is the club most represented in this attack with Maxime Lucu, Matthieu Jalibert, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Damian Penaud.
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The Gironde hinge, who was brilliant against the Italians at the World Cup, will be closely scrutinized after having been in difficulty against Ireland. As against Italy in the group stage of the global competition, Moefana will be a substitute on Saturday and will try to do as well as last October: coming on in the 61st minute, he scored twice.
The Roumats, new dynasty in Blue
The father/son siblings in the French team should expand on Saturday if Alexandre Roumat, son of former second-row Olivier (62 caps including 8 as captain), comes into play at Murrayfield. In the current French team, there are already two “sons of” with Romain Ntamack, heir of the former winger Emile, and Damian Penaud, son of Alain, the former international fly-half.
In the history of the French XV, there are numerous families of former players with, among others, the Camberabero (Guy and Didier), the Yachvili (Michel and Dimitri), the Dourthe (Claude and Richard), the Rougerie (Jacques and Aurélien), the Skrela (Jean-Claude Skrela and David) or the Elissalde (Jean-Pierre and Jean-Baptiste) and the Bonneval (Éric and Hugo). Like father, like son.
Scotland, Burning Thistle
Since Fabien Galthié took office, the French XV has once again become a nation that counts, returning to the forefront in the world rankings. Charles Ollivon and his teammates have only conceded ten defeats since 2020. And Scotland is the only nation to have beaten the Blues three times, almost a third of their losses. A great performance from the XV du Chardon since, for comparison, Ireland has only managed to beat France twice, in the last two seasons. During the first of his three defeats against the Scots in 2020, Mohamed Haouas weighed down his team by being sent off after throwing a punch. During the second, it was a guilty restart from Brice Dulin which cost the victory against the XV du Chardon at the Stade de France in 2021.
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The third came last August, in a preparation match for the World Cup: the Blues led 21-3 at the break before then suffering a fatal 22-0. This Saturday, the Blues must reassure themselves after the insipid offensive copy delivered at the Vélodrome. “We are not going to revolutionize our game, but we are going to try to be more active offensively, to play all over the field, which we were unable to do against Ireland, where we only played 20 or 25 meters wide”, hammered French back Thomas Ramos. The Blues have lost twice in their last four trips to Murrayfield.
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