Darge desperate to use French lessons to get Six Nations quest back on track

TWO bruising encounters with La Rochelle already this season have given Rory Darge a fair idea of what to expect when France visit BT Murrayfield next weekend.

The Glasgow Warriors flanker played in both games in the Champions Cup, with the French side prevailing each time.

Games against that level of opposition are as close to Test-match rugby as you can hope for, as Darge would now testify.

In particular, he was mightily impressed with Gregory Alldritt, the La Rochelle and France No8, who has emerged as one of the most powerful back-rowers in the northern hemisphere.

Darge made his Scotland debut off the bench in last weekend’s defeat to Wales in Cardiff. If another French test awaits next Saturday, he’d be only too happy to get stuck in.

‘He (Alldritt) is an outstanding ball-carrier, probably one of the best in the Champions Cup,’ said Darge.

‘I’ve watched a lot of Scotland-France games in the past. I remember going to a game against France at Murrayfield where Scotland won a few years ago.

‘The one last year obviously sticks out, with the boys going over to Paris and winning for the first time in a long time. That was a special moment for them.

‘In terms of what we expect, it’ll be similar to what French teams bring as a whole. With Glasgow, we played La Rochelle twice earlier in the season.

‘They’ve got a few players in their team who you would imagine will be playing for France. Big men who run hard and try and get offloads away.’

Asked about the French half-back partnership of Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack, Darge added: ‘You have to try your hardest to stop them, see what foot they kick off and how they kick, and try to get into them like that.

‘But I don’t think anyone underestimates what they bring — they’re both outstanding, and as a partnership last Saturday (against Ireland) they went really well.’

Darge is enjoying an outstanding breakthrough campaign for Glasgow after making the move from Edinburgh last year.

His Scotland debut would have come a lot earlier, only for Covid to

scupper the summer Tour last year before injury then hindered his involvement in the autumn.

A window of opportunity may now have opened up, with the injuries to fellow backrowers Jamie Ritchie and Matt Fagerson.

Darge (right) sees himself primarily as an openside, and the task of trying to displace Hamish Watson is far easier said than done. But Darge also sees a situation where he could play alongside Watson. Two specialist opensides can work, as Wales proved against Scotland with Taine Basham and Jac Morgan working in tandem.

‘Yeah, it was special to make my debut,’ said Darge. ‘I had been involved in a few squads before.

But the summer tour never went ahead due to Covid.

‘Then, in the autumn, I couldn’t play due to injury. I sat at home watching the games. It was after the Tonga game, you saw all the boys getting their caps.

‘So to now experience that myself a few months down the line has made it even more special.

‘I wasn’t massively overwhelmed by the occasion. Yeah, it was a lot to take in. But I was just sitting on the sidelines desperate to come on.

‘I see myself as an openside, but I don’t shy away from doing stuff in the lineout if required — I’ve done it before in my career.’

Although disappointed with the nature of their defeat in Cardiff, Darge insists that Scotland still have plenty to play for.

Victory over France would get their Six Nations firmly back on track, whilst scuppering any chance Les Bleus have of winning the Grand Slam.

‘It was massively disappointing that we lost to Wales,’ he said. ‘But if you put it in perspective, we’ve won a really big game against England.

‘We’ve then lost one other game by a small margin.

‘But we’ve still got three huge games left. We have to pick ourselves up and focus on the next game against France.’