Scotland seem to believe the loss in Wales is an unscheduled stop in a lay-by rather than a fork in the road.
The team to play France has the minimum of changes, just one to the starting XV not enforced. Even in that, Gregor Townsend was keen to stress that Zander Fagerson needed a big performance to justify his inclusion ahead of WP Nel.
Townsend could have kept up the bulk against a massive French pack by starting Josh Bayliss or Nick Haining in the back row instead of Rory Darge. But as he said himself…
There’s no point trying to match muscle with France
“France have got the biggest pack in the world, so we’re going to be lighter no matter who we pick. Rory (Darge) punches above his weight just like Hamish (Watson) punches above his weight.
“In terms of the influence both of them can have on the game, technically they’re very, very solid and aggressive defenders, both at mauls and off tackles.
“Having two players that maybe are smaller than the opposition could be an advantage to us.
“In terms of lineout, we’ve got to find different ways to win ball. We’ve got two very experienced lineout operators in Sam and Grant. Magnus has really stepped up as a lineout option for Edinburgh.”
Rory’s rapid rise
There's no room for hiding in these training sessions…
🏴 @johnbarc86 takes a closer look at Rory Darge during Scotland training at Oriam. pic.twitter.com/n0AMZGVjTT
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) February 15, 2022
Darge moved to Glasgow to escape a log-jam of Hamish Watson, Jamie Ritchie, Magnus Bradbury and others at Edinburgh. It has taken him less than a year to force his way into the national team.
“Jamie Ritchie’s a unique player for us with his ability in the set-piece and in attack and defence,” continued Townsend.
“But Rory Darge is a unique player too, and we have seen that with Glasgow this year. His ability to break tackles, his ability to jackal, his workrate and his unflappability.
“We saw that when he came into the camp last year. We saw it with the under-20s when he was captain of that team.
“He played number eight and played a bit at number six and I’m sure he’ll fit very well into that backrow with six on his back this weekend.”
Finn Russell on the margins
The coach isn’t overly concerned with the playmaker’s cards, the goofy smiles or any of that stuff.
“Finn will be disappointed to have picked up cards. The red against France (last year), I thought was an outrageous decision. It was a hand-off, should never have been a red card.
“Players realise that when you go for intercepts you do run the risk that if you don’t get it, referees now will give a yellow.
“In the past Finn produced some very good intercepts that led to tries. It’s not something that we’re looking at changing because he more often than not makes the right calls on those.
“He was back playing last weekend. I thought he played well in Bordeaux and his team had a really good win.
“We have discussions all the time about the game, about his individual game, about our game. And obviously this week playing France those discussions are even more relevant as he’s our one player that plays in France, so he knows a lot about the opposition.”
The issues in Wales
For all that they didn’t meet anyone’s expectations, Scotland were still close to pulling it off in Cardiff.
“We weren’t accurate enough. We got into a game where it was 14-14, 17-14, 17-17, 20-17.
“We believe that if we had been more accurate, particularly in the second half, we would have got more points on the board.”
The D words
26 penalties so far, most conceded after the first two rounds.
“There were a couple of penalties we gave away in defence which we feel we didn’t need to give away. You are always going to be under pressure in terms of discipline away from home.
“We put our heads into contact a couple of times and should have stayed on our feet. On one occasion we were a bit clumsy when playing the nine. Those are things we can take out of our game.
“Wales had one line-break the whole game. We know that we’ve built up a very strong defence, so that’s something to work on. But accuracy is a work-on too.
“Trust is a word which the players have been speaking about this week. Trust in our system and trust in each other. Being able to work through a lot of phases in attack and defence and doing the right thing.”
Mark Bennett’s recall
🏃♂️ Mark Bennett in action at the 2015 @rugbyworldcup!
Hear from @MarkSBBennett on the new episode of the Official Scottish Rugby Podcast now at https://t.co/Bhya9PniXh. pic.twitter.com/wDwGybxIBG
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) August 7, 2020
Bennett hasn’t been involved since 2018, but has looked his sprightly best since Mike Blair took the reins at Edinburgh.
“We have a few centres on form, but it was timely for Mark to remind us of his form again at the weekend. Against Munster in a tough game we felt he played really well.
“You also look at the other players in the squad that are pushing for that position. Obviously Sam Johnson started for us against England, and Rory Hutchison has been running 10 and 15 but we see him as a centre.
“We’re delighted to bring Mark back in and feel he can make a good impact off the bench and up the tempo and pace of the game if he gets called upon.”
Cam Redpath’s luck
The management team think very highly of the centre, who has been injured again.
“All injuries are bad news and obviously the timing of these two injuries during the Six Nations last year and this year are really disappointing for Cam.
“But we had a chat this week and he’s much more positive that he knows the solution for this. I’ll leave it for his club to announce this but we believe he’ll make a full recovery.
“We know the quality of player he is and what a great professional he is – a leader already in the way he conducts himself. We’re very hopeful we’ll get him back soon.”