Four weeks before Scotland’s opening game of the World Cup against Ireland, the visit of France on Saturday is a final audition for some players hoping to make the plane to Japan. There is still a trip to Georgia next week before the head coach, Gregor Townsend, finalises his 31-man party, but time is running out for certain individuals and for the team as a whole.
After the nightmare in Nice last weekend, thorny questions have resurfaced about Scotland’s fallibility in the face of raw power, and their inability to solve problems on the hoof. While the heat and humidity may have been factors, the Scots were so far off the pace it made a mockery of Townsend’s pre-match claim his players were in “the best physical shape they have ever been”.
The 32-3 defeat against France was the first time Scotland had failed to score a try in 24 Tests under Townsend, but if their attacking game spluttered the defensive structures were feeble in the extreme. A week is a long time in rugby, though, as New Zealand and Wales demonstrated last Saturday. It would come as no surprise if, having flunked their first French test, the Scots passed their second with the comfort of a sold-out Murrayfield behind them.
With nine players still to be culled, Townsend’s hardest calls appear to be at second-row, back-row and centre. Glasgow’s Scott Cummings, a bolter in the training squad, has a chance to force himself on to the plane as the fourth lock, a first Test start coming a week after his debut off the bench. Alongside him Sam Skinner is pencilled in as an auxiliary second/back‑row, but could still do with a strong statement on only his second Test start at lock.
The real intrigue surrounds Blade Thomson, the New Zealand‑born back-row who qualifies for Scotland through a paternal grandfather from Wishaw. The former Hurricanes player was lined up for a Test debut last autumn before sustaining an untimely concussion that kept him out for the rest of the season. The 28-year-old appears just the type of abrasive, hard-carrying ball-player that Scotland need. It is asking a lot on his first outing, but Townsend is desperate for a definitive display from a No 8.
Josh Strauss has almost certainly played himself out of contention after another non-performance in Nice. Matt Fagerson has the right ingredients but is still raw. Magnus Bradbury ended the Six Nations looking like a possible solution, but is currently not fit for selection. Ryan Wilson has estimable qualities, but starts at blindside flanker on Saturday.
In midfield, Duncan Taylor’s successful return has imperilled others. If Sam Johnson – aiming to return against Georgia – and Huw Jones are probables, then Peter Horne and Chris Harris, who start together on Saturday, could contest the final slot.
The positive impression made by Northampton’s Rory Hutchinson on his Test bow as a replacement in Nice has further muddied the waters. A similar entrance at Murrayfield could mean both Horne and Harris missing out.
There is a reassuring familiarity elsewhere, with Greig Laidlaw and Finn Russell starting at half-back for a 32nd time together, only three short of the record held by Laidlaw’s uncle Roy and John Rutherford. If Laidlaw brings his usual calm authority to proceedings, Townsend will find it hard to leave him on the bench for the big games in Japan.
Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour and Sean Maitland also offer a proven back-three blend, and Townsend is confident of a much improved performance. “It will have to be a lot better because France are in great shape and have picked a stronger team this week,” he said.
There will be plenty of English and Welsh interest in events at Murrayfield, with France in England’s World Cup group and possible quarter-final opponents for Warren Gatland’s side. They might have caught Scotland cold in Nice, but there was an impressive directness, discipline and dynamism about Les Bleus last week, a joie de vivre conspicuous by its absence in recent years.
Notoriously fickle on the road, if France can summon the same intensity at Murrayfield, where they have lost on their last two visits, the whole rugby world will be on notice.
Teams:
Scotland Hogg; Seymour, Harris, P Horne, Maitland; Russell, Laidlaw (capt); Reid, Turner, Nel, Cummings, Skinner, Wilson, Watson, Thomson. Replacements Stewart, Dell, Berghan, Gilchrist, Barclay, G Horne, Hutchinson, Kinghorn.
France Ramos; Penaud, Fickou, Fofana, Raka; Lopez, Dupont; Poirot, Guirado (capt), Slimani, Lambey, Vahaamahina, Iturria, Ollivon, Alldritt. Replacements Chat, Baille, Setiano, Taofifenua, Camara, Serin, Ntamack, Medard.
