Spy Laidlaw on a mission for Scotland
France-based captain craves overdue away win Hosts’ hopes pinned on young half-back pairing
Gregor Townsend no doubt would have preferred that his Scotland captain, Greig Laidlaw, had spent last weekend with his feet up rather than playing 80 minutes back in France for Clermont, particularly given Finn Russell’s concussion while on duty with Racing 92.
Then again, having Laidlaw based in enemy territory had some advantages, with the scrum-half keeping a close eye on the national post-mortem following France’s defeat by England a fortnight ago.
“There was a lot of chat going about, a lot of things being said in the media about the way the game ended up over in England,” Laidlaw said. “I just kept my head down, did my job for Clermont – and brought back as much information as I could to the team, which is important.”
France’s disarray has presented Scotland with a golden opportunity to win at the Stade de France for the first time since 1999, when Townsend, now head coach, was among the Scottish try-scorers.
Even a slew of key injuries, with Russell and Stuart Hogg joining WP Nel, Sam Skinner, Ryan Wilson and Huw Jones among the absentees this weekend, has not been enough to dampen the sense that if Scotland are to end their barren run in the French capital, now is the time.
“My mum and dad were out here watching the game [in 1999]. I was back home because I would just get in the way, so I watched it at my granny and papa’s,” Laidlaw recalls. “I remember us winning obviously, which was tremendous, and the celebrations after the game. That was a tremendous time for that team and something we want to have within our team is a big away win. In the past [France] would probably target us up front a little bit, but I think we’ve overcome that and I really think we’ve got the game to challenge them now. That’s the first port of call, our set-piece and our defence.
“If we function there we give ourselves a great foothold in the game and that’s what we want to springboard on from. I feel we’re playing good enough rugby to win, and I’ve pushed that point home this week. We’re sick of talking about having opportunities to win and being confident before games. It’s up to us now, as a group, to take the step and win away from home.”
Every bit of Laidlaw’s experience will be required ahead of captaining Scotland for a 37th time today. His new half-back partner, Glasgow’s Peter Horne, replacing Russell, has only started two Tests at fly-half, most recently against Fiji in 2017. Centres Sam Johnson and Nick Grigg and full-back Blair Kinghorn have won fewer than 20 Test caps combined.
“We’ll have to change how we play with Finn slightly to suit Pete’s strengths,” Laidlaw said. “You have to play to your strengths in the team and Pete brings different attributes to Finn. But he also brings a lot of the same ones and we won’t be deviating too much from our plan and we’ll play like we want to play.
“I don’t think Blair is going to be nervous. He’s played exceptionally well when he’s had the opportunity. He’s a young guy but he has been doing really well for Edinburgh and he just has to do what he does.”
Several of France’s backs are even more callow, aside from the old heads of Mathieu Bastareaud and Yoann Huget. The new halfbacks, Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack, have rarely combined together even at nine and 10 for Toulouse. Ntamack, just 19, in the last few weeks has gone from starting at centre against Wales, to being dropped, to taking the place of the ousted Camille Lopez.
Both players are outstanding talents, as is Thomas Ramos, an- other Toulouse man making his first Test start at full-back and tasked with the goal-kicking duties in Paris. Yet that will not stop Laidlaw and Scotland probing and testing for signs of weakness this afternoon. They may find some purchase too up front, given that France’s scrum has been the most penalised in the competition so far.
“[Dupont and Ramos] are both excellent young rugby players. I think the fact they play together for Toulouse will help them.” Laidlaw said. “Ntamack has played a lot at 12 for Toulouse and Dupont has been one of the form nines in the competition. But I’ve not come across them as a combination, not seen them very much together. They probably played a bit more together when they were younger. So we want to put massive pressure on them – and see how they come out the other side of that.”