Skipper excited to see how his men will fare against flying French
This afternoon at BT Murrayfield we’ll see an irresistible force coming up against an immoveable object.
Grand Slam-chasing France are the Six Nations’ top tryscorers, crossing the whitewash an impressive 11 times in their three wins to date.
But the Scots boast the meanest defence, it having been breached just twice.
“We’re aware of the stat that we have the best defence, so far, in the championship. But that means nothing now,” insists Scotland skipper Stuart Hogg.
“Today, we need to really front up and take some confidence from that. We’re in a good place, we’ve got good philosophies and good structures, great energy and detail every single day in training.
“As a full- back, I feel very, very confident in the guys in front of me. Against Italy in Rome, we kept them to zero points.
“The negative was not getting a bonus point in terms of tries, but we kept a clean sheet against an international team, which is massive.
“It’s another challenge to play against this French side who are quality. I’m excited to see how good the boys can be on Sunday.”
Scotland played France no fewer than three times last year, but they’re unrecognisable this time round as new coach, Fabien Galthie, has made sweeping changes not only to their personnel but also the way they play.
“They’ re a high-pressing team,” nods Hogg. “But how long can they keep that up for? Can they keep it going for 80 minutes?
“That’s a challenge for them. But, for us, it’s about what we do with their perceived strength of rushing up on the outside.
Hopefully we can turn it into a weakness.
“It’s high- risk, high- reward, and we’ve got to make sure we have that clinical edge and make the most of our opportunities.”
It’s not only the try tallies that are in stark contrast this afternoon.
The two full- backs are almost polar opposites of each other in terms of experience, despite Hogg being just eight days older than his counterpart in the No. 15 jersey, Anthony Bouthier.
The Scot was first capped as a teenager, has two Lions tours under his belt and will be winning his 76th cap today.
Bouthier will be winning just his fourth. This is his first season in the French top flight having kicked around the lower leagues with Dax and RC Vannes before former Scotland coach Vern Cotter took a chance on him at Montpellier.
“He’s a very good player,” says Hogg. “Something I’ve looked at this week is trying to find some space in the backfield, and he covers it really well.
“He’s got a huge kicking game. You saw that from his kick against England that went 90 metres or something. And it was a spiral, which I’ve got a lot of time for.
“He’s a quality talent. Like with the rest of the French team, he’s a huge threat so we’re going to have to be on the money in defence and make sure that we front up and go after them.
“If you allow these guys time and space to play, you can be in trouble.
“Everyone comes in at some stage to show what they’re about. He’s fairly new to the international scene but he looks like he’s enjoying himself and having a huge influence on the way that France are playing.”
Scotland have called upon two France-based players to give them the inside track on today’s opponents – former skipper Greig Laidlaw and exiled fly- half Finn Russell.
As Hogg reports: “We’ve had people tell us about the French players they play alongside or have played against.
“Everybody has had a look at France and their opposite number at some stage. The coaches have been looking at France for the past couple of weeks as well.
“Both Greig and Finn have had an influence on what’s happened over the past couple of weeks.”