Townsend ready for a hard fight with the French

SCOTLAND head coach Gregor Townsend knows if his side are to secure their second win of the Six Nations tomorrow, they are going to have to be ready to fight, fight and fight some more.

The Scots host France at Murrayfield and with the visitors on track for the grand slam having won all three of their matches there will be no lack of motivation for Fabien Galthie’s men.

“France have always based their game, club and international, on the combat, the fight,” said Townsend.

“They see the set-piece and the physical side as keys to victory and they get a huge amount of momentum and psychological advantage if a scrum goes forward for them.

“They are an excellent team, there’s no two ways about it, with very good individuals.”

Townsend has made three changes to the side who beat Italy, with Nick Haining poised to make his second start of the campaign, replacing Magnus Bradbury at No.8 and Grant Gilchrist coming back into the back row, while Fraser Brown is promoted from the bench and will captain the side as he gains his 50th cap.

Duncan Weir, who was called into the squad after Finn Russell’s departure, could win his first cap under Townsend after being named on the bench, with the stand-off having last played for Scotland in 2017.

Weir, 28, has been performing impressively for his club side, Worcester Warriors in the English Premiership and has impressed Townsend.

“Duncan’s not the biggest guy in our back line but he punches his weight in defence,” Townsend said. “He’s definitely matured as a player and added other elements to his game. We know that we’ll have different stand-offs, one starting and one on the bench, so that if we do have to change the game and Duncan had to come on he’ll be able to execute that really well.”

Since Galthie became France head coach, there has been an obvious change in their playing style, with far fewer risks being taken than previously. Townsend is familiar with the French coach having played in France at the same time as Galthie and is certain he will have imposed his competitive spirit on his squad.

“I was his half-back partner for his last ever game of rugby, the French Baa-Baas against Australia,” recalled Townsend.

“And I played against him, he was a tough competitor. Fabien is a really lovely guy off the field but on it he’s a real competitor, and I’m sure he coaches that way too.

“We’ve remained friends over the years and he’s obviously made a big impact on the French team now.”

France’s junior teams have been outstanding in recent years, winning the past two editions of the Under-20 World Cup, so it was only a matter of time before those players began to transition into the senior side and that talent is now beginning to shine.

“[Antoine] Dupont has been there for a while and [Romain] Ntamack is playing with a team that’s had a lot of success in the last couple of years, and they’ve built that cohesion and understanding as half-back partners which can really be valuable at Test level,” Townsend said.

“The expectation around

France has always been really high from other teams because of what they’ve been doing at Under-20 level and their Top 14 has got some fantastic players playing week-in and week-out. So it was probably a matter of when they would reproduce that at Test level, and we are starting to see that now.”