Six Nations Scotland 2012: Ross Ford insists frozen-out French will still be ready
Ross Ford won't be underestimating the French. Picture: Ian Rutherford
SCOTLAND captain Ross Ford has shrugged off any potential for France to be caught cold at Murrayfield when the RBS Six Nations Championship resumes this weekend.
France missed out on the second round of matches when their home game against Ireland ten days ago was postponed just ten minutes before kick-off. The Stade de France pitch had frozen before the 9pm kick-off.
That game will be replayed on Sunday, 4 March, when the other four teams are resting, which means France and Ireland face four games in four weeks. The Irish will host Scotland in Dublin six days after playing France.
But Ford, who will today be named Scotland captain for the match, does not expect Philippe Saint-André’s side to have lost any sharpness.
Ford said: “Training is intense for every international team and they’ll be peaking to perform on matchday. They’ve been away in camp for a month or so and they’ve been training hard. We’re aware of the challenges they’ll pose us but, for us, the challenge is to do what we do on the training pitch on match day.”
The Edinburgh hooker is enjoying captaining the side but admits it heightens frustration at losing. And France can be expected to pose the stiffest test for Scotland in the championship, particularly up front. They had plenty of problems at the World Cup yet almost beat hosts New Zealand in the final.
But Ford remains confident and said: “It [captaincy] is a massive honour but, for me, winning is what I’m out there to do. The French set-piece is good. The scrum is very formidable. They have a good lineout and they’re defensively good. And they have that ability to attack from anywhere.
“We’ve shown glimpses but we have to win. It’s about getting over that hurdle, pushing the level up again and turning ‘so close’ into actual wins.”
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Comments
There are 14 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Goose
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 05:06 PM12. "a little faith"??? Morrison was the only player in the 22 against England who was not used, he then was dropped completely from the 22. I don't think that they have shown much faith in him at all of late. Only after putting in a great MOM performance in the Glasgow win over the Scarlets (as captain, no less) and leading Glasgow to a near-win draw last weekend against has he played his way back into to 12 shirt. Come on, give the guy a break!
midlothianboy
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 02:51 PM#10 raithrover.You are right. Yet again The Scotsman's moderator has deleted an entry whose only offence was to point out a flaw in their journalism.There is no need to be so heavy-handed.If a genuine mistake has been made why not just put it right and have the moderator post an entry giving an explanationapology ? Why behave like the North Korean thought police who tolerate no criticism?
Doc Martin
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 01:51 PMGood team.... just ........ Morrison???? Can we not show a little faith in someone else?
King William III
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 01:41 PMScotland team (sponsor RBS) to play France in the RBS 6 Nations Championship at Murrayfield on Sunday 26 February, kick-off 3pm 15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) 1 cap 14 Rory Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) 28 caps, 6 tries, 30 points 13 Sean Lamont (Scarlets) 62 caps, 8 tries, 40 points 12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors) 32 caps, 3 tries, 15 points 11 Lee Jones (Edinburgh Rugby) 2 caps 10 Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby) 4 caps, 1 try, 1 conversion, 2 penalties, 13 points 9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh Rugby) 77 caps, 7 tries, 35 points 1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh Rugby) 62 caps 2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) 55 caps, 2 tries, 10 points CAPTAIN 3 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh Rugby) 10 caps 4 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 18 caps 5 Jim Hamilton (Gloucester) 36 caps, 1 try, 5 points 6 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors) 34 caps, 2 tries 10 points 7 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby) 13 caps 8 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby) 3 caps Substitutes 16 Scott Lawson (Gloucester) 31 caps, 2 tries, 10 points 17 Ed Kalman (Glasgow Warriors) 1 cap 18 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors) 38 caps, 1 try, 5 points 19 Richie Vernon (Sale Sharks) 15 caps 20 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors) 57 caps, 3 tries, 15 points 21 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped 22 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh Rugby) 31 caps, 1 try, 5 points
raithrover
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 01:40 PMThe picture was changed when I pointed this error out just after midnight. An acknowledgement of this by the Scotsman's sports editor would have been appreciated.
number withheld
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 01:00 PMdefinitely ross ford in that picture.
Rolypoly
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 11:02 AMDont see what this arguments about ....the picture is definately Ross Ford
RossM
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 10:53 AMNope - its definitely Ross Ford! - Jason White was never a Hooker.
Diehard Braveheart
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 10:41 AMI am pretty sure it is Ross Ford, unless they have changed the picture.
raithrover
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 01:05 AMTouchy moderator removing my very reasonable comment. If rugby fans know the difference between White and Ford then so should rugby journalists at the Scotsman.
raithrover
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 12:37 AMComment removed by moderator
ATG73
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 12:16 AMTruly shocking oversight. How can I get a job at the Scotsman?... I can promise I won't make that mistake.
ATG73
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 12:15 AMLooks an aweful lot like Jason white in that photo...
raithrover
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 12:14 AMThis might sound like me being very picky but is the above photograph not Jason White ????
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