Paris landmark no walk in the park
Big match gets go ahead but Gray warns Scotland team-mates...
SCOTLAND got the green light yesterday for their Six Nations clash with France in Paris to go ahead on Sunday.
The match was in major doubt after 11 French players and four members of their management team tested positive for Covid last week.
However, with no new diagnoses since Monday morning, tournament organisers have decided that it’s game on.
And with all the players who have tested positive missing out, plus home advantage reduced by there being no fans, many feel Scotland will never have a better chance to break their 22-year losing streak in Paris.
But second-row Richie Gray has warned his teammates if they underestimate Les Bleus then they do so at their peril.
He said: “The challenge will be just as tough because French rugby has crazy depth.
“A good example of that is the England game in the autumn, which was dubbed the French third team but they went over to Twickenham and almost pulled off a victory.
“So they can call on a lot of players and any time you play France in Paris it’s going to be a really big challenge so we need to be prepared for it.”
Having played seven seasons of club rugby in France with Castres and Toulouse between 2013 and 2020, 30-year-old Gray has a better idea than most about what it will take to secure that first win at the Stade de France since 1999.
He said: “There are many technical elements to the game but the one that stands out most is we need to match them physically.
“Having read in their press that they want to make their nation proud, we know they will come out firing.”
The good news as far as Gray is concerned is that the current Scotland squad is better equipped for this task than ever before during his time in the national set-up.
He said: “There is a calmness around the squad.
“Everybody is confident in their own abilities and looking to have a good time.
“We have some real strength in depth and talent across the board.”
Sunday’s match will be a particularly poignant moment for Gray, who made his Scotland debut against the same opposition at the same venue almost 10 years ago to the day.
An injury-ravaged couple of seasons meant he claimed only one bench appearance for Scotland between March 2017 and the start of this year’s Six Nations.
However, with 67 caps in total, he said: “The appetite has always been there but since I’ve got back into the squad environment it has grown and grown. And I want more.”