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No-shows from England and France in our Six Nations team of the week
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The reasons why Scotland insist French title win isn't a done deal
By PA
Scotland defence coach Steve Tandy does not care if his side are written off ahead of facing Guinness Six Nations leaders France as he is convinced there will be chances for the visitors in Paris. France lead the table ahead of the final weekend and a bonus-point victory on Saturday will guarantee them the title.
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The French have racked up 26 tries in four matches – 11 more than Scotland and England, who are next in line. A 42-27 win in Dublin last weekend ended Ireland’s Grand Slam hopes and put France on top after bouncing back in emphatic fashion from their one-point defeat by England.
Tandy said: “I don’t think it bothers me what other people are thinking. We have got our own internal standards of where we go, we have got our own internal belief of how we play the game and how we go after opposition.
“It’s an exciting one, France, but then you look at them, they probably could have blown England away, they have done an unbelievable job out in Ireland, so we know exactly what firepower they bring but we have got our own way of playing and how we are going to go about it in France.
“So it’s just an exciting opportunity. Going there, it is always an incredible atmosphere and in the past we have done pretty well against France. It’s just exciting, it’s unbelievable that you are in a Six Nations game, the last game of the tournament, so it’s something we are hopefully going to get out there and really enjoy.”
Scotland could be standing watching the Six Nations winners celebrate the title for a second year running after losing to Ireland in Dublin 12 months ago. “We know there will be big momentum around the crowd and they have got big boys to bring the momentum as well, but that is all external stuff and that’s the end point stuff that we don’t know will happen,” Tandy said.
“The only thing we can concentrate on is the bits that we can control and that is what we are doing in the training week and that is what we will certainly be doing when it comes to the game on Saturday.”
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Scotland could very feasibly have been among the teams gunning for title glory had they taken advantage of their opportunities to add points in their own one-point defeat at Twickenham.
Tandy said: “They are a brilliant team but again, 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.
“They are an incredible team and you know they can offload, they have got an amazing kicking game, but a bounce of the ball or you get your bits right in what you can do, then we are certain there will be opportunities for us at the weekend.”
