Scotland vs France: Key battles ahead of Six Nations clash

There are some players who are just box office. Whenever they get their hands on the ball, almost no matter the situation, it’s time to really sit up and take notice. Duhan van der Merwe and Damian Penaud are two such players, even if the ways they get the crowd off their feet can be quite different.

Penaud is the natural rugby player, with clever lines, delicate kicks and languid stylings until he’s required to explode into action. Van der Merwe is the uber-athlete, a T-800 in fully human form whose pace and power more than compensate for any deficiencies in basic skills.

The French wing has the better overall scoring rate, with a try every 99 minutes at Test level compared to every 118 mins for his Scottish opponent. It’s worth noting though, that purely for scores in the Six Nations, van der Merwe just has the edge with a try every 103 mins v 105 for Penaud.

Gael Fickou’s history of playing against Scotland stretches all the way back to 16th March 2013. In fact, that was the day the then 18-year old centre made his Test debut. This will be the 14th time he has played the dark blues with 9 wins and 4 losses under his belt so far.

His partnership with Jonathan Danty (Fickty cent?) has been deployed 9 times in France’s last 13 matches. They are both fine attacking players but it is their defensive nous that really allows them to dominate the midfield. Fickou’s intelligent reading of the game makes him a balanced foil for Danty’s muscular presence scavenging for the ball.

Scotland will feel that, on current form, the Huwipulotu pairing can match – and maybe even better – their more illustrious opponents in terms of attack. It’s often defence that wins the day though and the Scots will need to be at their very best to break through versus the French duo.

Ben White’s 13 kicks were an absolutely essential part of Scotland’s excellent start against Wales. They were also pretty much the only thing that relieved the pressure – however briefly - when it all started going wrong in the second half.

That consistency of exits from the Scottish 22, giving the opposition a starting point in midfield rather than from prime attacking positions, will be even more crucial this weekend. The French love nothing more than to pin a side back and wait to take possession deep in their opponents’ territory.

If White can maintain the level he showed in Round 1 and use his box kicks to push his team up to halfway, and even beyond, it will make defending a bit less pressured and also put Scotland in areas they can really have a go from if they do turn over ball.

The weight differential between the tight fives is 21kg (585kg v  606kg) which just happens to also be the difference between the respective tighthead props. 126kg Zander Fagerson is a very large human being. 147kg Uini Atonio is simply enormous.

The big man from Timaru will be in the game for a good time, not a long time – he averages just 48 minutes per start in Test rugby over the past three seasons. While he’s out there though he will be a significant obstacle for Scotland to overcome at the scrum and around the fringes of the breakdown.

The setpiece in particular may give the home side pause in considering what their approach should be this week. Against a relatively inexperienced Welsh unit, the Scots were aggressive but ended up conceding 2 penalties and a free kick at scrum time. With the first choice French front row in town, discretion may be the better part of valour and getting the ball in and out as quickly as possible the go to option.

The Scottish lineout has lost its premier operator with Richie Gray out injured while Paul Willemse’s suspension does at least allow France to replace a near unliftable (not a real word but works for lineouts!) giant with the player who has ruled the air for them during the last couple of seasons – Cameron Woki.

That could be important for the French as they try to recover from an uncharacteristically untidy performance in this area against Ireland. The Scots came up with some big steals down in Cardiff, even after the early departure of Gray, but an opposition lineout with Woki and Charles Ollivon as targets will be tough to disrupt.

Although this breakaway trio have never before started a Test for Scotland, this will be their 10th start together following nine games for their club side, Glasgow Warriors. It’s that cohesion as well as the balance in skills among the three players that Scotland’s coaches will be hoping can close the gap somewhat on a world class French triumvirate who have the edge on paper on a man for man basis.