Six Nations: St Andre will give French va-va-voom

Scotland have been warned they will face a fresher, more finely tuned, France in Sunday’s RBS Six Nations clash at Murrayfield after the Tricolours’ last match, against Ireland, was postponed.

The warning comes from new French coach Phillipe St Andre, who says of the unexpected opportunity to spend a month preparing since defeating Italy and getting to know his players: “We can take what we are working on that bit further in both the technical and strategic levels. And in terms of the human side it is almost like a World Cup preparation.

“As well as giving them (the players) some intellectual breathing space it is also important from a physical level as well.

“In my role as coach I am going to get to know the players a lot better and also their characters.”

At the same time St Andre, who replaced Marc Lievremont after the World Cup, is wary that Scotland might click into gear.

“One saw in the World Cup and then in the Six Nations against England and Wales that Scotland are a team who likle to throw the ball around a lot, keep the ball and create a lot of scoring opportunities,” he said. “Alas for them, they didn’t take them and they were punished for not doing so.

“For us as well, this match could prove to be a turning point. This will be crucial for in terms of morale and confidence it is always best to put a string of victories together.”