Scots pack must hit top gear to take pace out of Le Juggernaut
FRUSTRATE the French juggernaut. That is the message Vern Cotter has given his Scotland team, which shows just one change from the side which beat Ireland last week, as they go in search of a first win in Paris in 18 years tomorrow.
The alteration to the starting line-up for this second round of the Six Nations Championship sees John Barclay promoted from the bench to the back row in place of Ryan Wilson, who misses out because of an elbow infection.
John Hardie, who returned from injury last week in Edinburgh’s game against Ulster, is among the substitutes.
It is unsurprising that Cotter has kept faith with the players who performed so well in last week’s 27-22 win over the Irish, although the head coach expects a different type of challenge from the French.
Guy Noves, Cotter’s counterpart as head coach, has also only made one change to his starting 15 despite losing his opening match to England - but it is a significant one, emphasising his preference for even greater bulker than his team had at Twickenham.
That change, like Scotland’s, is in the back row, where Loann Goujon, a better ball-carrier, replaces Damien Chouly, an accomplished lineout competitor.
“It’s obvious how they’re going to play against us,” Cotter said yesterday after announcing his team. “We’ve got to contain them, tighten things up. Everyone will have to work extra hard.
“They believe that they can overpower us. They believe this is the game that will set their Six Nations alight.
“We’ve heard the noises coming out of their camp – it’s pretty clear what’s coming.”
Asked to interpret the French way of thinking for this match, Cotter continued: “They’re a big juggernaut that’s going to roll over the top of us.
“We’re the type of team they like to play against. They want to go harder and faster and make it as difficult as possible. Turnovers will be very important to us.
“Guy likes to keep the ball alive. You’ll see them throwing balls in quickly at the lineouts. From free-kicks at scrums they’ll want to play quickly. They’ll try to put speed and power into the game.
“Getting them frustrated is key. We want don’t want to give them an easy run, put it that way, so if they’re making yardage off one-off carries, zero-pass plays, a line-out drive with Louis Picamole coming off that, they will grow an arm and a leg.
“That’s why we have to really anticipate and defend well, de- fend smart, try to get them frustrated. We want to keep control of our game, make them push their game – and areas will open up for us to hurt them.”
WHEN it comes to frustrating the opposition, there are few better in the Scotland squad than Wilson, so in that sense the unavailability of the Glasgow Warriors backrow forward is a blow.
But the squad have trained all week without him, the game plan is more or less the same - and according to Cotter, the return of Hardie is a huge lift.
“I had hoped that for the first time we would be able to put the same 23 out but Ryan had an infection on his elbow that didn’t heal quickly enough,” the coach confirmed.
“He couldn’t train right from the outset, so he was just observing and hoping to get back in. We made the call yesterday after the Wednesday session, when he was back in hospital.
“It didn’t force a change, because they’re very similar play-
ers, Ryan and John Barclay. John may be slightly better in a turnover situation, Ryan might be slightly better at lineout – although they’ll be contesting that
“Both are very good leaders. And having John Hardie’s enthusiasm coming in is great. John Hardie is very excited about being part of the 23.
“I can’t hold him back. He’s tearing the paddock up, which is great. He’s worked on himself a fair bit and he looks great.
“Late in the game having someone with his energy and workrate will be important against this team.”
ALATE contribution off the bench is also expected from Ross Ford, who had been a contender for a starting place.
But Fraser Brown holds on to the No.2 jersey, while the retention of props Zander Fagerson and Allan Dell constitutes a massive vote of confidence by Cotter in two plays who are still novices at Test level – but novices who are learning very fast
“We felt the bench had a con- siderable contribution to the game,” the coach added. “We felt we should keep the same mix and same contribution as last week.
“Ford off the bench, Swinno [Tim Swinson] off the bench – they brought a lot. So keeping the same dynamic, same personnel: that’s our plan.”
“The French pack have a significant weight advantage, so the Scots will have to rely in particular on the technical ability of Dell, who should be able to burrow underneath his opposite number. “It’s the old adage about the size of the fight in the dog, not the size of the dog in the fight. Once again, scrummaging is just not one person. It’s about a group.
“Allan has come into the international scene and offers so much around the paddock. He’s a good scrummager as well: he just needs games like last week to get better.
“Everyone will be focusing on competing with the French scrum. And it won’t just be the first or last one, it could be the 40th one. It’s something players have to understand. Each scrum is another contest and it starts at zero.”