When France named their squad for the Six Nations just over a month ago, much of the focus was on many of the big names who had been left out.
Chief among them was winger Damian Penaud. With 40 tries in 59 caps, Penaud is already France’s all-time top scorer even at the age of just 29.
That was a shock omission, but it wasn’t the only one. Fabien Galthie also chose to leave out stalwarts such as Gael Fickou, Cameron Woki and Gregory Alldritt.
With only two games left to play, and with France now firm favourites to go on and win the Grand Slam, it’s safe to say they haven’t missed a beat even in the absence of those star names.
It speaks of the incredible depth of talent available to Galthie that he is effectively using this Six Nations to develop young players, whilst still dominating the championship.
France have been imperious so far, racking up three successive bonus-point wins over Ireland, Wales and Italy. They are scoring tries for fun and playing a scintillating brand of rugby.
France icon Antoine Dupont and wing sensation Louis Bielle-Biarrey are two major threats
In the backline, the absences of Penaud and Fickou have not been felt. In their place, Galthie has turned to this army of young baby-faced assassins.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey is the pick of the bunch. Over the past 12 months or so, he has been the most lethal winger in world rugby.
He scored eight tries in last year’s Six Nations, which was a record in itself, and was duly named player of the championship. He already has four this time around.
But more of these young flyers have since emerged. On the other wing is Theo Attissogbe, who has three tries in as many games in this year’s championship.
Bielle-Biarrey is 22, Attissogbe is 21, whilst, in the midfield, Nicolas Depoortere is 23. It is a quite ridiculous crop of youngsters to be coming through at once.
All the more so when they are led by the mesmeric talents of captain Antoine Dupont at scrum-half. There have been times in recent weeks when France have looked like the Harlem Globetrotters on a rugby field.
Such has been their dominance, France have not trailed for even a single minute in any of their three matches so far. They start quickly and blow teams away.
It will be interesting to see how those young wing wizards cope with adversity if Scotland can manage to get in front and ask some questions.
Theo Attissogbe has three tries in three Six Nations outings so far in this year’s championship
Gregor Townsend is under no illusions about the scale of the challenge. In terms of playing expansive attacking rugby, France are the best in the business right now.
But the Scotland head coach has vowed to meet fire with fire when the teams clash in tomorrow’s blockbuster showdown at Murrayfield.
‘We know what a brilliant team France are when they get opportunities to play,’ he said.
‘They are playing an expansive game of rugby. They are looking to offload. They are looking to get the ball to their fastest players.
‘But often that’s because of a mistake from the opposition or a poor kick. We’ve got to make sure we’re on top of that and limit their opportunities.
‘They’ve shown over the last two or three games that they’re the best attacking team in the world.’
Asked whether this represents the toughest test in world rugby right now, Townsend continued: ‘It’s a different challenge.
‘I think the Springboks are still the No 1 team in the world. They’ve won two World Cups and they bring such a physicality that the challenge is right in your face. You know what’s coming.
‘I think France are playing such an evasive style of rugby and scoring lots of tries. They’ve been really successful.
‘I think I said before we played France in Paris last year, that was the biggest challenge I felt in world rugby right now.
Gregor Townsend has belief that Scotland will be able to match up to the tournament favourites
‘Going to Paris, going to Stade de France when they were trying to win the title and our players were up for that challenge.
‘We played really well in that game. Again this is different because France have built up some form and they’re very confident.
‘It’s up there with the Springboks. But I still think the Springboks are the best team in the world right now.’
Scotland’s last win against France at Murrayfield came in 2020, just a few weeks before the world went into lockdown.
That was a game which saw France prop Mohamed Haouas sent off for landing a punch which landed square on Jamie Ritchie’s cheek.
Ritchie is out of action at the moment after picking up an injury in the win over England, but the back row is boosted by the return of Jack Dempsey.
Dempsey is Scotland’s most powerful and abrasive ball-carrier. If he can have a big game, it would set the tone for Scotland up front.
Freddy Douglas will also come off the bench for Scotland, the young Edinburgh firebrand who has rapidly emerged as a turnover king at the breakdown.
Describing Douglas as ‘world-class’, Townsend, who has gone for a six-two split on the bench, continued: ‘We are excited to have Freddy involved.
‘We feel that his game and his jackaling is at a world-class level. He was the best in the world this year winning the ball back for his team.
‘We have seen them doing that against top sides like Toulon, Bath and Glasgow.
‘We believe that he is going to have such a big impact in all facets of the game but especially us getting the ball back.’
Freddy Douglas has been labelled as ‘world-class’ and will likely feature from the bench
Townsend has made five changes in total. After earning a recall against Wales, there is no place for Duhan van der Merwe in the squad after a lacklustre display in Cardiff.
Darcy Graham returns to the wing, whilst Matt Fagerson is restored to the back row. Zander Fagerson has surprisingly been left on the bench, with D’Arcy Rae starting at tighthead.
Rae forms a new-look front row alongside Pierre Schoeman and George Turner, with Scotland seeking to spoil the party for a French side who could win the title with a bonus-point win.
‘We haven’t really talked about it,’ Townsend said of the possibility of a French title win. ‘It’s about what we can do, staying in the championship for another week.
‘We know we’ve got that final game and things to play for in Dublin [a Triple Crown], but it’s about us winning. That’s what we’re here for.
‘Whatever that means in the championship, we’ll see after the game but it’s about us delivering a winning performance.’
