6N: France v Scotland: Steve Tandy delivers optimistic Rory Darge update
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SCOTLAND co-captain Rory Darge is making good progress on the hip injury he suffered during the first half of Saturday’s win over Wales and is hopeful of being available to face France in this coming Saturday’s Six Nations finale at Stade de France in Paris, according to the team’s defence coach, Steve Tandy.
"He's alright,” said Tandy. “He's a little bit sore but he’s progressing through the days. He’s getting better so we’re really hopeful around Rory. He says he’s feeling better as the week goes on.
"[It was] a bit of a bang. It’s nothing major but it’s just that obviously you’re waiting for that to ease. And after about three or four days, they tend to really settle down. So, yeah, he’s around the group and it’s not been a lengthy week of training this week because we’re going to need plenty of energy come Saturday night. Most of the boys are still in a bit of a recovery phase today and then we’ll train tomorrow."
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"I think at the end of the day we’ll sit on it and the boss [head coach Gregor Townsend] will speak to the medics and see how he’s progressing and how it goes. But, at the minute, we're just seeing how he’ll settle down and he’s moving freer so we’ll just wait and see."
"Everyone else is in a decent bit of health,” the Welshman added. “There are a couple of boys banged up obviously from the [Wales] game. There was a lot of ball in play time, lots of contacts being hit. I think it was around 42 to 43 minutes [ball in play time] so we’re just at recovery phase around what it looks like. We had a little bit of light walkthrough of stuff today and a tiny bit of training but most of the boys are getting through it and we’ll train fully tomorrow."
Tandy confirmed that Finn Russell is feeling no ill after-effects from the cramp that led to his being taken off around the hour mark against Wales, explaining that the decision to bring Adam Hastings into the squad on Monday was more to do with easing the Glasgow Warriors man back into the environment after an injury-ravaged period, rather than needing experienced cover at stand-off for the weekend.
Even if Scotland win on Saturday night, the likelihood is that they will finish fourth in the Six Nations table again, which is disappointing given the high hopes of the start of the campaign, but Tandy struck a positive tone as he assessed his team’s prospects in Paris.
"I think it’s just about recovery and picking the best team that we feel will go and really attack France,” he said. “So, we’ll cover that in our own selection but it’s been a pretty consistent group for the Six Nations and there’s been lots of good in and around our game. We just want to get to that point on Saturday and finish off with a top-level performance.
"Top of your game is not being absolutely perfect for the full 80 because, there’s another team that also changes momentum. Some of it is surviving that momentum change and how you get through those periods. So, I think it’s never perfect but it’s the engagement in every play.
"Then you’ve got France … getting everything your own way, that’s not going to happen. So, I think its about being engaged at every moment, fighting for every moment. And again, you’re going to have to survive some hairy moments in France because you know you could do the best thing in your own defence, but they could still get an offload away. So it’s always striving to get that 80-minute performance.”
Scotland have caused three out of the four teams they have faced so far in this championship real problems when they have managed to generate front-foot ball to make use of their razor-sharp backline in the first half of the match, but have struggled to maintain that level of attacking fast-moving rugby after the break. Meanwhile, of the 15 tries scored by Scotland in this campaign, only the first – claimed by Darge after just three minutes of the first game against Italy – came through the forwards. It feels like they need to improve their up-the-jumper play in order to manage the shifts of momentum which are an inevitable feature of every game of rugby, but that is easier said than done in the final match of a campaign against one of the most powerful packs on the planet, who could well opt for a seven-one split on the bench between forwards and backs.
Tandy confirmed that Scotland will not try to reinvent the wheel as they plot a way to trip up the form team in the tournament, who have power and guile all over the park, as they demonstrated when obliterating Ireland’s Grand Slam dream last weekend.
“I think the way we play, there’s a real good attacking mindset,” he said. “They’re a brilliant team, but if you perform at the best level of what you can do, you’ll create opportunities for yourself as well, whether it be with or without the ball. So like I said, they’re an incredible team and you know they can offload, they’ve got an amazing kicking game, but a bounce of the ball or you get your bits right in what you can do, then we’re certain there’ll be opportunities for us in the weekend.
"I think the best teams have a style in what they do. There’s always those little subtleties or tweaks, because the way France may attack is certainly different to Wales and England and how they play. So you’ve got to adapt certain bits. But the underlying principles of how you want to play and how you see the game don’t tend to change. Otherwise it gets pretty confusing for the players.
“We’ve got how we want to go, and as you see, we play some great rugby, so I don’t see that changing on the weekend. We truly believe in how we want to play, and how we want to bring our game to France on the weekend.
“A lot of these boys have played in these games before, the big games in France. At the end of the day, you go to any game at Murrayfield, it’s a massive game, irrelevant of who the opposition may be. Six Nations, probably outside the World Cup, is the biggest tournament in the world so I think every game is unreal, whether it be Cardiff or Dublin or wherever .The occasions are spectacular. And obviously now France potentially winning the championship, it makes it even bigger.
"The crowd in Paris are always unreal, but I think generally it’s brilliant to be there, and the boys thrive in those environments, and I think they get excited by it. There will always be a feeling like the stadium’s against you but sometimes that can inspire you to do special things."
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