Gregor Townsend has challenged Scotland to grab their “final likelihood” to stay within the hunt for the Six Nations title by beating in-form France at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The Scots entered the match with excessive hopes, however defeat in Wales final trip means they now have little margin for error if they’re to remain in rivalry for a primary championship win since 1999, when it was nonetheless the 5 Nations.
Victory over France is deemed important if the Scots are to again up their promise with silverware and Townsend believes his crew are geared up to cope with that problem.
“We all know it’s our final alternative,” mentioned the top coach. “We imagine in our crew however it’s our final likelihood to be within the race for a trophy on the finish of the season. We imagine in our group so we’ve to place all the pieces into this on the weekend and ship what we’re able to delivering.”
The Scots gained in Paris final yr whereas they haven’t misplaced at residence to France since 2014. Nonetheless, Townsend is aware of the very fact Les Bleus are at the moment one of many strongest groups on this planet.
“It’s in all probability up there with taking part in South Africa in November,” he mentioned, referencing the Autumn defeat by the world champions.
“They’re one of many high two or three groups on this planet proper now. They’ve obtained an enormous pack, momentum behind them, outcomes behind them, so it’s an ideal problem for us.
“They’ve obtained their full squad this week and many confidence, they rested up final week too. They’ll be raring to go. However I’ve seen our group rise to this problem up to now and I’m certain we’ll try this once more.”
Requested if optimistic recollections from latest conferences with France would possibly profit his facet, Townsend mentioned: “It may possibly assist in preparation for the week as a result of you might have a mannequin or a components or examples of once we’ve carried out issues nicely in opposition to France and put them beneath stress.
“However each recreation tells its personal story, you need to work out as a bunch what’s efficient, what works for you and places the opposition beneath stress. The opposition study from these video games too, so whether or not we see France taking part in the identical method as up to now, or change it. For us, we’ve simply obtained to adapt to that.”
Glasgow flanker Rory Darge, 22, will make his first begin for Scotland as considered one of three modifications to the XV from the defeat in Cardiff.
“For us, Rory brings so much both facet of the ball,” mentioned Townsend. “Defensively he’s considered one of our greatest tacklers, an excellent jackaller, very disciplined in touch space together with his selections and method.
“And if you happen to have a look at his performances and stats he breaks extra tackles than most back-rowers taking part in simply now. He’s somebody we really feel can actually complement what we’ve within the again row on both facet of the ball.”
Kaynak: briturkish.com
