The 'fun' Six Nations clash to savour: Scotland v France - with title implications on the line

Fabien Galthie obviously missed the fun memo and the French coach was at his curmudgeonly best when he took aim at the Murrayfield facilities ahead of Saturday’s match.

Galthie is aghast that his team will be housed in what he dubbed “the smallest changing room in the world”. So small, in fact, that some of his players will be forced to change in the corridor.

The row over the petit vestiaire has made for an semi-amusing backdrop to a huge fixture which has the potential to decide the outcome of the Six Nations Championship.

A bonus-point victory for France would see them clinch the title with a game to spare; a win for Scotland would set up a thrilling last-day shoot-out on Super Saturday when Gregor Townsend’s side travel to Dublin and France host England in Paris.

Townsend has a more than decent record against the French at Murrayfield, winning four of seven since he became head coach, and it’s a fixture that appeals to his rugby aesthetic. The coach was a risk-taker as a player and has taken that sense of adventure into his coaching, firstly with Glasgow Warriors and then Scotland. France are similarly adventurous and Townsend thinks that could make for an entertaining spectacle but also mistakes.

“I'd be interested to see how France play this weekend, because they'll know that we're a team that thrives on open rugby,” said the Scotland coach. “So are they.

“Now, if you play an open, offloading game, there's going to be errors there. France are making more line breaks than any team, but they're also making a few errors. That's just the way you play.

“In Glasgow, when we won the Pro 12 title, we made the most errors. A lot of attacking teams will make more errors. So if they go with that mindset, then we're going to have opportunities.

“And from us as well, if we are playing our ambitious, brave game that we delivered against England, we've got to be accurate too, because if we give them any loose ball there, they're the best team in the world right now at punishing you.

“So I would hope that they will come in with the same philosophy, ambition to play, and it's great for the supporters, but also that's a way for us to get the ball back off them.”

How Townsend was influenced by French rugby

Townsend is a committed Francophile and had his eyes opened to the French style when he signed for Brive in 1998. Spells at Castres and Montpellier followed and enforced his love of the “pure, instinctive rugby” and a coaching style pioneered by Toulouse’s legendary guru Pierre Villepreux.

“They're the best players in the world at adapting to fractured defences in space,” said Townsend. “And it's been part of their philosophy [since] Pierre Villepreux, years and years ago. The Toulouse philosophy. How they train. They pretty much just throw up a ball and it's 15 v 15. And they'll do 8 v 8s. They'll do little mini games.

“In France you don't see an attack shape as clearly as other teams. That is sort of pure, instinctive rugby. Where they then become the best is on counter-attack opportunities when the line is a little bit disjointed and they make the most of that.”

Townsend has incorporated similar traits into his own training and there are few better attacking teams of unstructured play than the Scots. The likes of Finn Russell, Ben White and Blair Kinghorn all have experience of playing in the Top 14 and Huw Jones will move there next season when he joins White at Toulon.

“There's a reason why French rugby suits them or why French teams would like them to be in their teams as well,” added the coach.

The Toulouse influence still runs strong in the France team and there are 11 players from the Top 14 champions in the 23 Galthie selected for Murrayfield. Bordeaux-Begles are also strongly represented, providing four of the French backline, including fly-half Matthieu Jalibert and centres Nicolas Depoortere and Yoram Moefana who all return to the side after missing the win over Wales through injury.

The fourth Bordeaux player is the electric Louis Bielle-Biarrey who has four tries already in this season’s championship and is looking to emulate last season’s haul when he scored a record eight, including one against Scotland in the 35-16 win in Paris which clinched the title for Galthie’s side.

They are hot favourites to retain their crown and have been since before the tournament kicked off but it is the Grand Slam that France really want, something they have not achieved since 2022. To achieve that they will need to win at Murrayfield then defeat England at the Stade de France next Saturday night.

Scotland punctured French Grand Slam ambitions by beating them in Edinburgh in round four in 2020, a result that ultimately cost them the title. Townsend will look to do a similar job on the visitors on Saturday and is boosted by the unexpected return of Jack Dempsey whose explosive carrying abilities were championed by the coach this week.

The Glasgow No 8 can have a major influence and it is interesting that Townsend has also recalled Ewan Ashman, albeit to the bench. The Edinburgh hooker had a torrid afternoon at the lineout in the defeat by Italy in round one but he is a strong carrier in the loose and also has an eye for a try.

The biggest surprise in Townsend’s team is his decision to pick an all-new front row and relegate Zander Fagerson to the bench. The tighthead will still have a big role to play but it is D’arcy Rae who will start against France, with Pierre Schoeman and George Turner alongside him.

Scotland need to start well because France have a habit of scoring early. Townsend’s side did that to spectacular effect against England last month and a similar opening would suit the Scots just fine and perhaps give Galthie something more pressing to moan about.

Scotland v France (Six Nations, Murrayfield, Saturday, 2.10pm)

Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn; 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (capt), 11 Kyle Steyn; 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White; 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 George Turner, 3 D’arcy Rae, 4 Gregor Brown, 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 8 Jack Dempsey. Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Josh Bayliss, 22, George Horne, 23 Tom Jordan.

France: 15 Thomas Ramos; 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey; 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (capt); 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Julien Marchand, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 4 Charles Ollivon, 5 Mickael Guillard, 6 Francois Cros, 7 Oscar Jegou, 8 Anthony Jelonch. Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Thibaud Flament, 20 Emmanuel Meafou, 21 Lenni Nouchi; 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Pierre-Louis Barassi.