Finn Russell under no illusions about what awaits Scotland in Saint-Etienne
Stand-in Scotland captain Finn Russell expects France to restore their big-hitters for next weekend’s rematch in Saint-Etienne.
A second-string Les Bleus side were ripped apart by the rampant hosts in the second half of Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match at Murrayfield.
French head coach Fabian Galthie started debutant trio Paul Boudehent, Emilien Gailleton and Louis Bielle-Biarrey in Edinburgh, while Antoine Dupont, Gael Fickou and Romain Ntamack were among a raft of established players given the day off.
The experimental nature of the team did not hinder the visitors in the first half as they raced into a 21-3 lead at the interval.
But Scotland, despite having prop Zander Fagerson sent off in the 50th minute, roared back to win the second half 22-0 and claim a morale-boosting 25-21 victory five weeks ahead of their World Cup opener.
“It was not their strongest team, a lot of their players will come back next week,” said Russell. “It will be a different team we face.
“It was tough to prepare as a lot of the (French) boys have not played before, especially against us in the Six Nations, so we focused mainly on ourselves this week.
“Next week against them we can look at their players that come back and look back to the game from the Six Nations (in February) and analyse how they play and we will go from there. Next week will be a very different French team we face.”
Despite the fact it was not against France’s strongest side, Russell feels Scotland’s relentless second-half performance – in which Darcy Graham, Pierre Schoeman and replacement Dave Cherry got the game-changing tries – will stand them in good stead ahead of the World Cup.
The Scots will spend this week at their tournament training base near Nice before travelling to Saint-Etienne on Thursday for their next warm-up match against the hosts.
“The first half we did some good things but gave away some soft penalties and turnovers and the skills weren’t there,” said Russell. “In the second half we got a try early on that got us back into the game and got the momentum for us.
“It was great to have had that second half and play the way we wanted to. It showed the rugby we can play.
“From last week it was a step forward and we go to France next week. It will be a very different French team we face but it will be a very good challenge for us heading towards the World Cup.”
Russell was captain in the absence of injured skipper Jamie Ritchie, who hopes to return in Saint-Etienne following a calf issue. The 30-year-old stand-off enjoyed leading his country for the first time.
“It was good fun,” he said. “As a 10 on the pitch you tend to talk a lot and chat with other leaders.
“In terms of speaking on the pitch and having leadership, it was similar to previous occasions.
“It was more the relationship with the referee and having those key decisions at certain times such as ‘do we go for the posts, or the corner?’ That was the main difference.
“At half time it was maybe not the most enjoyable but the second half it was good.”
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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