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'Just now, probably this is the toughest fixture in world rugby'
By PA
Gregor Townsend has told his Scotland players to embrace “the toughest fixture in world rugby” as they bid to try and stop rampant France landing the Guinness Six Nations title in “pumped up” Paris on Saturday night.
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Despite returning to winning ways with an erratic 35-29 victory at home to struggling Wales on Saturday, the Scots are set for another underwhelming mid-table finish following damaging back-to-back defeats by Ireland and England.
Townsend’s men will still play some part in deciding the outcome of the title, however, with France in pole position and primed for glory unless the visitors can pull off what would be a shock win in the Stade de France.
“It will be pumped up to the max, won’t it?” mused the Scotland head coach. “I think the atmospheres now at Stade de France are amazing. We saw it during the World Cup (in 2023).
“They’re a quality side. When you saw the French club teams dominating in Europe and scoring 70-80 points against quality English sides on a couple of occasions, it shows you what can happen if you allow them to get on the front foot.
“France scored 70 points against a very good Italian team, they got 40 points against Wales, 40 points against Ireland. I think they could have scored 40 or 50 against England with the amount of chances they had. Just now, probably this is the toughest fixture in world rugby.
“They beat the All Blacks in November, so we can’t wait to be involved in it. We know they’ll be going for the title, but it’s an opportunity for us to go out and play against one of the best teams right now.”
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Townsend acknowledged his team will not get away with the type of final-quarter drop-off that undermined what, for the best part of an hour, was shaping up as an emphatic and potentially record-breaking win over the Welsh.
The Scots ran in four tries in a swashbuckling first-half display and led 35-8 at the end of the third quarter, with Tom Jordan and Blair Kinghorn both bagging doubles and Darcy Graham also bounding over.
But they lost their way badly in the closing quarter as Wales – who had countered through Blair Murray in the first half – nabbed two losing bonus points with Ben Thomas, Teddy Williams and Max Llewellyn all crossing the whitewash during an unanswered 21-point flourish.
“We’re absolutely delighted with the result,” Townsend added, dismissing the notion that the late collapse had taken the shine off the win.
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“This is why we’re here. What we do during the week is to work to deliver a winning performance. We definitely played better down at Twickenham over the 80 (in a 16-15 defeat) but we didn’t get the win, but this time we did.
“The first half probably exceeded expectations given the quality of the Welsh performance last week and the players on their side. We are obviously going to look at the second half and how we can get better. We know that if we drop off next week then those will be occasions for France to get into the game.”
Townsend is hopeful that co-captain Rory Darge will be fit for France after being forced off with a hip knock in the first half on Saturday.
“It was a real acute pain that was stopping him from functioning at the level required,” said the head coach. “We’ve had a couple of players who have had that this year and they’ve turned it around in time for the following week. He’s optimistic that it will recover in time for Paris.”