Backs against the wall, Scotland are looking to come out fighting against France according to captain Stuart Hogg – and they don’t care what others say about them.
Hogg admitted a significant degree of angst after the defeat in Wales, but said the team plan to turn that frustration on the French.
And he was scathing to the suggestion that the Scots have flattered themselves to deceive everyone else, or that the team – and particularly stand-off Finn Russell – don’t care enough.
‘It was a dark couple of days’
Your Scotland team for Saturday’s @SixNationsRugby clash with France has been confirmed.
Hear from Gregor Townsend as he gives an insight into the team selected.
Team news & interview: https://t.co/e8LGmx2LcO#AsOne pic.twitter.com/iYND8vwJLC
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 24, 2022
“Last week was horrible,” he said. “I went back home and it was a dark couple of days trying to get over the result.
“I watched it back and my mood swings were unbelievable. I was up and down. I didn’t enjoy viewing it and that is something that has been very, very frustrating this last week.”
The idea that the Scots talk themselves up is nonsense, he said, and there is “a massive difference between confidence and arrogance”.
“Certainly, from a player’s points of view, I think we give out the impression that we are confident in our ability and confident in our structures, but we’re far from arrogant.
“We are as far away from that as you possibly can get. We have not been in a position to win trophies so we are never going to be arrogant.”
As for Russell, Hogg loves when he sees his stand-off smiling – even after an error – because he knows it means Russell is still calm.
“It is the complete opposite (of not caring),” he said. “I love that because I know that when he is like that he still remains calm. He is frustratingly good at times and he just seems to park mistakes.
“One of the best things about Finn is that he genuinely doesn’t care what people think, other than the people he cares about. Everybody reacts to mistakes in completely different ways and that’s what we want. We want people to be individuals.
“Everybody can say what they want about Finn and what they want about myself or anybody else. Mistakes happen. We genuinely care. It is a bit frustrating when people look in and think the opposite.
“It was only because the result didn’t go our way last time that we probably got more than normal.”
Russell’s French lessons will be crucial
La très longueeeeeeee passe en cloche de Finn Russell, la très longueeeeeeee passe sans en avoir l'air de Romain Ntamack, petit focus sur deux ouvreurs aux mains géniales #ECOFRA https://t.co/0f0k5Vqu8E
— Thomas Perotto (@thomasperotto) February 24, 2022
Russell’s input this week in particular has been crucial, added the skipper.
“Finn has been absolutely outstanding, as he is most weeks, but even more this week,” he said.
“He has had a huge influence on the way we are trying to play and also the analysis he has brought from the top 14 and the players that he plays with or against.
“He is really excited about the opportunities that we’ve got in attack. He is going to be the driver of the way we want to play. His analysis has been second to none and I’ve been really impressed by what he has done this week.”
Their analysis has them believing there will be more opportunities to play with ball in hand this week, says Hogg.
“We want to have the complete package – the all-round game both sides of the ball,” he said. “But no two matches are the same, so sometimes you rely heavily on your attack and sometimes you rely on your defence.
“Against Wales we had a big front-line focus in terms of defence, and we had to find ways to get into the game and that was through our kicking game. Unfortunately, and I put myself into this bracket, our kicking game wasn’t good enough.
“I have no doubt that against France, if we carry hard and move them around the field, then we will create space and really get going.”