win, without getting lost in the calculations, the last equation of the XV of France

The equation is difficult. How do you score four tries in one game against a team that has conceded only seven in its first four games of the Six Nations Tournament? How, above all, to approach a match that could lead to the first French title in a decade, without getting lost in calculations?

Six days after having overthrown, in stoppage time, Wales (32-30), the French men’s rugby team rubs against Scotland, Friday March 26 at the Stade de France (9 p.m.). She hopes, in this meeting postponed following the eruption of Covid-19 within the French group, to obtain the final victory in the Tournament.

“Let’s not get the wrong stake!” It is important to be efficient and to win the match ”, hammered Fabien Galthié this week at a press conference. There is no question, according to the coach, to pollute the minds of the players with the number of points and tries to register to be titled. “The rest will come depending on the scenario and the construction of the match. “

“We must not get tangled up in the objectives and approach it like a normal match, to win ”, confirms former French XV winger Vincent Clerc. “Getting the wrong strategy from the start could create frustration, and give the Scots the opportunity to get into the game better”, adds the one who is now a consultant for France Televisions.

“Be careful not to put the cart before the horse, even if the players will think about it, necessarily”, abounds Imanol Harinordoquy, the former international third row, who, like Vincent Clerc, was part of the XV of France which, in 2007, had played – and won – a similar final, already against Scotland.

In this “Match for accountant”, as wrote then The world, the Blues had to win at least 24 points to pass Ireland in the standings. They had done it, on a final test at the end of the meeting of the Clermont center Elvis Vermeulen (46-19).

An “extraordinary” offensive potential

Like their predecessors, the current Blues hear “Take care to build [leur] patiently match “, warned the coach of the back lines, Laurent Labit. “The scenario of the match will dictate the outcome of this Tournament: in 2007, we began to believe in it after a moment of madness having seen us score three tries in ten minutes, after the break”, notes Imanol Harinordoquy.

As shown by the last ten minutes of the match against the XV du Poireau, Fabien Galthié’s squad is capable of packing the match. “The offensive bonus can go very quickly. There is absolutely extraordinary attacking potential in this team., breathes Vincent Clerc. We have the impression that by adjusting the defense a little in relation to the match against the Welsh, even without calculating, it can manage to score four tries for these Scots and get a favorable goal-average. “

But French players are warned of the dangers of seeing themselves too beautiful. “Scotland is formidable, has enormous potential, and is playing its second place”, recalls Gaël Fickou. A victory of more than eight points in Saint-Denis would allow Stuart Hogg’s teammates to supplant the Blues on the podium – and offer the Tournament to the Welsh.

Thistle stings again

For a long time a simple expiatory victim on the road to the France team, the XV du Chardon stings again. At the opening of the Tournament, carried by an intractable defense – “The best of the Tournament for me, very well organized and very intelligent”, according to Fabien Galthié -, the Scots beat the English at Twickenham for the first time since 1983.

2021 Tournament vintage looks like a never-ending day for Scots fans

Gravediggers of French grand slam ambitions last year, in the last match before the planet was sealed off, pandemic obliges, the Scots continue to affirm their progress. Even if, once again, the 2021 vintage of the Tournament looks like a never-ending day for their fans: despite a generation reaching maturity, a big defense and an increasingly polished game, Scotland has once again stumbled, home. First against Wales (24-25), after playing most of the second period outnumbered; then against Ireland (24-27).

However, coach Gregor Townsend warned. Facing the Blues, his men go “Fight fire with fire”. Whatever tactics Charles Ollivon’s partners adopt, “A physical battle or a match that moves the ball”, the Scots will respond. Even if the Scottish technician confirmed to be forced to do without several of his players playing in the English championship.

Due to the postponement of the meeting (initially scheduled for February 28) following “The Covid episode” of the XV of France (sixteen contaminations), the English clubs accepted – in extremis – to release only five Scottish internationals. And forced the coach to difficult choices.

If Townsend remained civilian, congratulating himself on being able to dispose of at least some of his “English players”, the Scots will not lack motivation against the Blues, to whom the postponement allows to recover players like Virimi Vakatawa and Bernard Le Roux, injured a month ago.

The last XV victory of Chardon in Paris dates back to 1999. That year, that of the last Grand Slam achieved by the Scots, Gregor Townsend played at the opening. “We hadn’t won in London for 38 years, recalled the Scottish technician. We want to erase one more number, another record. And playing in a stadium without spectators is a great opportunity to do so. “ If it wants to win the title, the France team will have to integrate this element into its equation.