Gregor Townsend reverted to his tried and tested veterans as Scotland seek a third successive win to open a Six Nations for the first time at the Stade de France on Sunday.
Hamish Watson is recalled to the starting XV and Ali Price to the bench. Scotland have been fortunate with injuries, with just two changes to the starting team in three games, neither enforced.
There’s a clear acknowledgement from the head coach that this is a significant step up from the first two games against a rebuilding England and an imploding Wales. Scotland haven’t won on successive visits to Paris since 1969.
Their dramatic win in the Covid emptiness of 2021 was one of Scotland’s “best-ever”, said the coach, but it was also against a French team almost reckless in chasing a title. They’ll be a more structured and coherent unit, in front of 80,000 home fans this time.
Here’s six points from Townsend’s selection:
Scotland’s biggest Six Nations game, ever?
🗣 “He’s played with real speed in his two games for Edinburgh.”
Gregor Townsend discusses the change to his starting XV and previews the challenge France will pose.#AsOne pic.twitter.com/GwDUar6ZY9
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 24, 2023
“The Six Nations is such a big tournament that every game has historic angles to it. If you lose one or a couple, you’re out of the running. If you win a couple, then suddenly you’re talked about as being in contention for the championship.
“We understand that is out there, but we also to focus that we have to be better. We’ve still not delivered close to what we feel we are capable of.
“There’s been great moments, great team play, great individual plays. The spirit of taking the game to the opposition, the togetherness is on show, but there are areas we can be better.
“We know what works for us and how to be a threat to them. We also know what makes it easy for them to get at us.”
Dropping Stuart Hogg was never considered
“There was a doubt coming into the tournament about where he would be physically. But he’s shown in training and against England and the time he was on against Wales he’s fully match fit.
“Blair (Kinghorn) has been great, breaking records in the gym and also out on the training field with his speed. Knowing we have someone who can cover at ten, in the back three and is in really good form but also physically in such good shape is a positive for us.
“But in those big games, the challenges at Twickenham and in Paris, Stuart has been a big influence on how we have won. We were delighted when he passed all of his return to play protocols.”
The return of ‘The Mish’
“Hamish dropped out of the team through no fault of his own. Now he is back fully fit so it becomes a discussion around who is right for this weekend and not as much about who’s played better the week before.
“We feel Hamish has gone well against France in the past, against a lot of teams.
“He’s highly motivated after having missed out in these last two weeks. The speed he trains at means he’ll add to that in attack and defensively.
“He’s still a part of our leadership group so when those five guys meet up he contributes in that way. He’s very well respected and he knows there’s huge competition now. They have to play well to stay in the team and he has the opportunity this weekend.
Finn will draw pressure, but that’s a team thing
“The challenge for Finn is ‘go again this week’, but that’s actually a challenge for all of us.
“He could be put under pressure in different ways. But we see a player in training who is confident, building good relationships with the players outside and inside him. It’s tricky when you only get two games to build those relationships.
“You see those relationships building in games. Maybe we haven’t started (the first two) games the way we’d like, but that’s more about accuracy than effort.
“I’m not sure we’ll get away with it if we do that this week. We have to be right on it at the beginning.”
Was last year’s heavy defeat an outlier?
“I believe so. I think it was a blip, just the way we played. We got behind in the game and were playing too much, we only kicked three times in the second half.
“They got ahead on the scoreboard and were content to defend. The referee allowed a contest at the breakdown, Rory Darge got five turnovers on his own, they had nine.
“We couldn’t impose our game. Our game is about playing but it’s also about breaking things up by kicking. I read a stat that we’ve actually kicked the ball most in the championship this year.
“We have an intention behind how we play and how we get the ball back, last year that wasn’t there.
“The challenge we haven’t had in the other games is going to the Stade de France with a crowd.
“We played one of our best ever games two years ago. Now we have to do that against a great French team.”
6-2 split on the bench – because France are
Your Scotland side for Sunday's clash in Paris 🏴
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— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 24, 2023
“It’s been on our mind coming into the France game. They’ve gone (six forwards-two backs) the last five or six games. South Africa, France and Italy all go to six-two.
“You’ve got to acknowledge if they are bringing on big men in the second half that are fresh then you are asking a lot of your pack.
“Players like Jack Dempsey, Jonny Gray and Sam Skinner – especially Jonny and Jack who have played really well for us already – getting them more minutes is a really positive thing.
“We feel if we have to that someone like Jack Dempsey can play in the backline, centre in particular, and Blair Kinghorn can play anywhere in the backline.
“It gives you confidence on the bench knowing that we can bring players on earlier who can bring a physicality.
“The game is going to be (about that) as much playing into open spaces.”