Blood & Mud

RBS 6 Nations preview: Scotland vs France, Murrayfield, 15:00, Sunday

He's back!  Lord of International Relations, Mathieu Bastareaud, finds himself back in the France team,  look out for him headbutting a bagpiper and blaming it on a Buckfast-swilling local. Marc Lievremont has also suprised me by giving Ben Cohen Aurelien Rougerie a start ahead of Vincent Clerc.

However, this is by the by, as failing one those famous French collective brainfarts Scotland are going to lose.  Their defeat of Australia in the Autumn was so heroic I wouldn't be surprised if Mel Gibson makes a film of it ("THEY CAN TAKE OUR RUCK BALL, BUT THEY'LL NEVER TAKE OUR LINEOUT!"), but nine times out of ten, the Aussies would have won that game.  By contrast the French beat and narrowly lost to the All Blacks in New Zealand in the summer.

The French back-row is immense, and in Yannick Jauzion they have, for my money the best 12 in the world.  In contrast, the Scots have someone with a girl's first name at 6 and Phil Godman in the team.  Nuff said. 

I do always find myself being somewhat negative about the Scots, which some of you may feel is unreasonable.  As a rugby nation I have a great deal of time and fondness for Scotland, but the fact is that they are not very good, and I only deal in facts.

b&m.com prediction: France by 12

Spotter's badge:  Max Evans pointlessly sidesteps four times in the space of a square metre before being body clubbed by Bastareaud.

TEAMS

Scotland: 15-Chris Paterson, 14-Thom Evans, 13-Max Evans, 12-Graeme Morrison, 11-Sean Lamont, 10-Phil Godman, 9-Chris Cusiter (Captain), 8-Johnnie Beattie, 7-John Barclay, 6-Kelly Brown, 5-Alastair Kellock, 4-Nathan Hines, 3-Moray Low, 2-Ross Ford, 1-Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16-Scott Lawson, 17-Allan Jacobsen, 18-Richie Gray, 19-Alan MacDonald, 20-Rory Lawson, 21-Alex Grove, 22-Hugo Southwell.

France: 15-Clement Poitrenaud, 14-Benjamin Fall, 13-Mathieu Bastareaud, 12-Yannick Jauzion, 11-Aurelien Rougerie, 10-Francois Trinh-Duc, 9-Morgan Parra, 8-Imanol Harinordoquy, 7-Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5-Pascal Pape, 4-Lionel Nallet, 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-William Servat, 1-Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16-Dimitri Szarzewski, 17-Luc Ducalcon, 18-Julien Pierre, 19-Julien Bonnaire, 20-Frederic Michalak, 21-David Marty, 22-Vincent Clerc.

Ref: Nigel "Sarcastic Lecture" Owens

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RBS 6 Nations preview: Scotland vs France, Murrayfield, 15:00, Sunday

He's back!  Lord of International Relations, Mathieu Bastareaud, finds himself back in the France team,  look out for him headbutting a bagpiper and blaming it on a Buckfast-swilling local. Marc Lievremont has also suprised me by giving Ben Cohen Aurelien Rougerie a start ahead of Vincent Clerc.

However, this is by the by, as failing one those famous French collective brainfarts Scotland are going to lose.  Their defeat of Australia in the Autumn was so heroic I wouldn't be surprised if Mel Gibson makes a film of it ("THEY CAN TAKE OUR RUCK BALL, BUT THEY'LL NEVER TAKE OUR LINEOUT!"), but nine times out of ten, the Aussies would have won that game.  By contrast the French beat and narrowly lost to the All Blacks in New Zealand in the summer.

The French back-row is immense, and in Yannick Jauzion they have, for my money the best 12 in the world.  In contrast, the Scots have someone with a girl's first name at 6 and Phil Godman in the team.  Nuff said. 

I do always find myself being somewhat negative about the Scots, which some of you may feel is unreasonable.  As a rugby nation I have a great deal of time and fondness for Scotland, but the fact is that they are not very good, and I only deal in facts.

b&m.com prediction: France by 12

Spotter's badge:  Max Evans pointlessly sidesteps four times in the space of a square metre before being body clubbed by Bastareaud.

TEAMS

Scotland: 15-Chris Paterson, 14-Thom Evans, 13-Max Evans, 12-Graeme Morrison, 11-Sean Lamont, 10-Phil Godman, 9-Chris Cusiter (Captain), 8-Johnnie Beattie, 7-John Barclay, 6-Kelly Brown, 5-Alastair Kellock, 4-Nathan Hines, 3-Moray Low, 2-Ross Ford, 1-Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16-Scott Lawson, 17-Allan Jacobsen, 18-Richie Gray, 19-Alan MacDonald, 20-Rory Lawson, 21-Alex Grove, 22-Hugo Southwell.

France: 15-Clement Poitrenaud, 14-Benjamin Fall, 13-Mathieu Bastareaud, 12-Yannick Jauzion, 11-Aurelien Rougerie, 10-Francois Trinh-Duc, 9-Morgan Parra, 8-Imanol Harinordoquy, 7-Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5-Pascal Pape, 4-Lionel Nallet, 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-William Servat, 1-Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16-Dimitri Szarzewski, 17-Luc Ducalcon, 18-Julien Pierre, 19-Julien Bonnaire, 20-Frederic Michalak, 21-David Marty, 22-Vincent Clerc.

Ref: Nigel "Sarcastic Lecture" Owens