W6N: France v Scotland preview: visitors face tough test of mettle against Championship second favourites
03/27/2025 08:00 AM
SCOTLAND lost 55-0 on their last visit to France, in the 2023 Six Nations. It was their 12th defeat in a row in all competitions, and marked a historic low in the 40-year history of the national side.
But the darkest hour, as they say, is just before dawn. A mere six days later, they ended that losing run in emphatic fashion with a home win over Italy, and the following week they beat Ireland too. They have now played 17 games in all since that loss in Vannes two years ago, and they have won 13 of them.
In other words, they have improved out of all recognition from the team that they were. And Saturday's game against the French in La Rochelle could well provide an accurate measure of precisely how much they have improved.
When the two teams met at the Hive last year, the gap between them had closed dramatically. Far from strolling to victory as they had done on home soil, France only denied their hosts a losing bonus point with an 80th-minute score, in the end winning 15-5. It was a result which ended a seven-game winning sequence for Bryan Easson's team – the best in their history to date.
Since then, the depth of the Scotland squad has continued to grow, and there is further evidence of that in the head coach's 23 for this match.
Team news
After giving debuts to locks Hollie Cunningham from the start and Adelle Ferrie off the bench in last week's 24-21 win against Wales, Easson has named another two potential new caps among his replacements this time round: Watsonians and Edinburgh tighthead Molly Poolman and Loughborough Lightning lock Becky Boyd. As last week, there is a 6-2 split on the bench.
The only change to the starting 15, meanwhile, sees Jade Konkel come in at No 8 as a direct replacement for Evie Gallagher, who is serving a single-match suspension after her red card against Wales.
Scotland: Chloe Rollie; Rhona Lloyd, Emma Orr, Lisa Thomson, Fran McGhie; Helen Nelson, Leia Brebner-Holden; Anne Young, Lana Skeldon, Elliann Clarke, Hollie Cunningham, Sarah Bonar, Rachel Malcolm (captain), Rachel McLachlan, Jade Konkel. Replacements: Elis Martin, Leah Bartlett, Molly Poolman, Adelle Ferrie, Becky Boyd, Alex Stewart, Caity Mattinson, Evie Wills.
Meanwhile, France coaches David Ortiz and Gaelle Mignot have made three changes to their starting 15.
Centre Gabrielle Vernier is out after being given a three-match ban for her red-card offence in last week’s 27-15 win over Ireland at the Kingspan. She will also miss the home game against Wales, but will not need to serve the third game of her suspension – away to Italy – if she takes World Rugby's coaching intervention programme. Her place in the midfield goes to Montserrat Amedee, who will be playing her first Test match since 2018, while the other change in the back line sees Kelly Arbey replace the injured Nassira Konde on the wing.
In the only change to the pack, Manon Bigot takes over from the injured Agathe Sochat. There is also just a single change to the bench, where teenage lock Kiara Zago is in for Emilie Boulard.
France: Morgane Bourgeois; Kelly Arbey, Marine Menager, Montserrat Amedee, Melissande Llorens Vigneres; Carla Arbez, Pauline Bourdon Sansus; Yllana Brosseau, Manon Bigot, Rose Bernadou, Manae Feleu, Madoussou Fall Racot, Charlotte Escudero, Seraphine Okemba, Teani Feleu. Replacements: Elisa Riffonneau, Ambre-Saadia Mwayembe, Clara Joyeux, Kiara Zago, Axelle Berthoumieu, Lea Champon, Alexandra Chambon, Lina Queyroi.
What Scotland coach Bryan Easson said
On the decision not to appeal Evie Gallagher’s ban after saying post-Wales that he would:
"It depended on what we were going to get. We’re not going to appeal one week.
"I was hoping they’d overturn it, that was genuinely it. We’ll accept a week and we’ll move on. Jade’s a good cover to have, so Evie’s ready to go for Italy."
On preferring Molly Poolman on the bench to Christine Belisle:
“Her set-piece is good, but outside set-piece she moves really well. So it just fits into how we want to play, and that’s not to say CB can’t do it, it’s just the way our game is evolving and the way this team is evolving. From a performance point of view, we just felt that Molly was going to give us a little bit more.
“It’s not that CB is not growing, it’s just that we just need to keep growing faster, because the game is moving quickly. So it’s totally performance-based and Molly deserves that opportunity.”
On Becky Boyd, who like Poolman could make her debut off the bench:
“She’s a second row/back row. She’s played back row for Loughborough as well. Adelle [Ferrie] would cover second row, and then if we have a back-row injury we’ve also got Alex [Stewart] in there as well, so it depends. There’s so many different permutations.”
Prediction
Both teams won last week without really hitting their best form, but we can expect them to go up a gear or two. Scotland will have their hands full trying to smother France’s offloading game, and although they have a strong bench, the game could well go away from them in the final 15v minutes. France by 24.
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