Fraser Brown: I have concerns about the Scotland bench but pressure is on France

Our replacements haven’t provided the impact you need to win at Test level

The Stade de France is an incredible stadium and the organisers do unbelievably well to turn games there into memorable occasions.

And that's before you get to the rugby. I'm talking about the light shows, the fireworks, the noise, the DJs, the music. It is like a carnival in there, no matter when they're playing. But a night-time kick-off is special in Paris.

The France v Scotland game will get underway at nine o'clock on Saturday [8pm BST] and I think it's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere. I'm doing the commentary for the BBC and I can't wait.

Scotland struggled in the final quarter against Wales, conceding three tries. | AFP via Getty Images

I always loved the quarter to five kick-offs in November at Murrayfield because you were playing under the lights and it adds to the sense of occasion and I think it will be the same in Paris.

I think the rugby could be pretty special too. France will know exactly what they need to do to win the title. There will be no second chances - this is the championship decider.

Strangely, I think playing France kind of suits Scotland, for the first 50-odd minutes at least, until the benches come into it. Scotland have done quite well against France in recent times, and particularly since Steve Tandy came in as defence coach.

Steve knows France’s defence coach Shaun Edwards very well. Steve was part of Welsh rugby, with the Ospreys, when Shaun and Warren Gatland first came in at Wales. I think Steve has based a lot of his defensive principles around Shaun’s principles.

I think they're very similar characters in how they interact with and relate to players and how detailed they are in trying to make players better. Since Steve joined Scotland, these games have always been pretty close.

I think the nature of both defences means that the opposition can make a lot of mistakes and France and Scotland are then brilliant on the counter-attack and in transition attack. So, as powerful and as immense as France are - and they certainly showed that last week in Dublin - I think there will be opportunities for Scotland.

The atmosphere at the Stade de France is special, particularly for night games. | AFP via Getty Images

There's definitely pressure on France. And there's pressure on Fabien Galthie. This should have been France's grand slam year. I thought they were the best team going into the championship but they lost to England in a game they should have won by 20 or 30 points.

Antoine Dupont is a huge loss for France as a team and for the championship as a spectacle. But weirdly, from a French perspective, I think it inspired them to play better last week against Ireland. That may have been due to raw emotion. I remember playing in a Glasgow game a couple of years ago when Rory Darge suffered a serious ankle injury. I think it was against Cardiff.

We seemed to have this collective surge and we destroyed Cardiff that night. And that wasn't because we were a great team - we weren’t at that point. But the injury seemed to galvanise us.

It may have been similar with France last week, an emotional reaction to losing someone who is such a big leader and focal point.

Maxime Lucu came on at scrum-half and played really, really well. He is much more of a facilitator but still a great player in his own right. He gets the ball moving from breakdowns at speed and I thought he brought a lot out of the rest of the team.

Maxime Lucu impressed against Ireland after replacing the injured Antoine Dupont. | Getty Images

They lost Pierre-Louis Barassi as well and it looks like Gaël Fickou will come in for him at 13. He is solid, really experienced and one of their leaders on and off the pitch.

I think they'll go with a 7-1 split on the bench again. The only caveat to that is they don't have Dupont who is capable of covering pretty much every position.

Versatility is becoming increasingly important. For all the talk of 6-2 and 7-1 benches, it’s almost more like a 6-1-1 or 5-1-2 where you have someone who can play in the back row and also at centre and wing, a proper hybrid player.

While France have lost Dupont, Scotland are fretting over the availability of co-captain Darge who injured his hip against Wales.

I think if he's anywhere near fit, he'll play. Rory’s probably had a quieter Six Nations than we might have expected. That might sound a bit harsh because he's put in an absolute power of work but he's probably not been as visible as in previous years.

He's still Scotland's best spoiler and he still gets through more work than anyone else in the Scottish pack: the amount of attacking and defensive rucks he hits, the amount of work he does in collisions defensively. Again, it might not be obvious, but the amount of work he does to slow down opposition ball means he's integral to the Scotland defence. They'll do everything they can to get him in the team.

Scotland will hope Rory Darge recovers in time to face France. | Getty Images

It is an area where Scotland have some strength and I thought Matt Fagerson was excellent when he came off the bench. If Darge isn't fit, I suspect Matt will come in at six and Jamie Ritchie will move across to seven. And then it's a case of who they bring onto the bench.

Ben Muncaster is in the squad and has been in excellent form for Edinburgh. He's big, powerful and athletic, he works hard and is a really dynamic ball carrier - something you're going to need against France.

Jack Mann is another option to come onto the bench and is someone who offers real physicality and dynamism both sides of the ball.

I'd be inclined to stick with the same starting team if possible, but I do have concerns around the bench, the front five in particular. You can't shy away from that last half an hour against Wales and the concession of three late tries.

I thought Gregor Brown was great when he came on, but the front row replacements have certainly struggled. And that's two matches in a row now because, against England, the game got away from Scotland in the last 20 minutes.

I have real concerns around the set-piece when the bench comes on. We couldn't get any quality ball from the lineout at the weekend in that last 20-25 minutes and the scrum was under serious pressure.

France, by contrast, whether they go 5-3, 6-2 or 7-1, have got an absolute bucket-load of talent and power to unload off the bench. That's going to be the biggest area of concern for Scotland. Can they live with the power in the front five and front up in the last 20 minutes?

Gregor Townsend went with a 6-2 bench against Ireland and England, probably hoping to get that extra power. Personally, unless you have the players, I don't see the point of it. That's my honest opinion. Unless you have six top-quality forward replacements why go 6-2?

If you're going 6-2 and you're debating who the sixth forward on the bench is going to be then that's not much of a choice for me. It’s different going 6-2 because you want to get players x, y, and z on the pitch. I’m not convinced Scotland have the quality in depth to go 6-2, particularly if Darge is ruled out.

I don't think the bench has been great across the Six Nations, it certainly hasn’t provided Scotland with the impact you need to win at Test level. We saw a good example of that against Wales on Saturday. When Finn Russell came off, Scotland lost all their shape because so much of their attack revolves around Finn and his ability to unlock defences.

It's going to be really hard for Scotland on Saturday night and I think France will have too much power, particularly in the last half an hour. Scotland can't expect Zander Fagerson to go for 70-80 minutes and deliver the same high standards to the very end.

I also think France will be fuelled by the disappointment of losing to England.

The Grand Slam has eluded them, it would be unforgivable from a French point of view if they also missed out on the Six Nations title.