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The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION

France hopes to avoid wooden spoon, Scotland hopes for second in Six Nations

By: Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press

Thursday, Mar. 14, 2013 at 3:27 PM | Comments: 0

French rugby team player Frederic Michalak, right, attends a training session at the National Rugby Center in Marcoussis, south of Paris, Thursday, March 14, 2013. France are preparing for their upcoming Six Nations tournament match against Scotland, Saturday March 16. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PARIS - After some abject performances in a tournament in which it started out a favourite, France owes itself and its supporters a special effort against Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday.

The last time the French were at home, five weeks ago, their fans began jeering and whistling before halftime and kept up the withering noise after fulltime, bemoaning pitiful rugby in a loss to Wales at Stade de France.

The whistling has hardly abated coming to the final round. France barely avoided a whitewash of losses by coming from 13-3 down to draw 13-13 at Ireland last weekend, but a first wooden spoon since 1999 is still an option.

"When you play in front of your fans, you want to do something special," France scrumhalf Morgan Parra said. "We have to play with the same continuity that we showed in the second half in Dublin, and we have to win."

Only the dynamism of No. 8 Louis Picamoles has stood out in a poor campaign which has led to suggestions that coach Philippe Saint-Andre should quit.

"We are sad and we can't be happy about our Six Nations," Saint-Andre said. "But I feel there is pride in this team."

In contrast to Saint-Andre's sometimes self-inflicted problems, counterpart Scott Johnson should have his "interim coach" tag upgraded to "fulltime coach" for the way he's improved Scotland this season. A year after losing all five games, Scotland has a chance to finish second with a win, combined with and a big win by England over Wales. Even if Scotland stays third, that will mark its best finish in 12 years.

"We have made some progress and it would be ideal to cement that by a winning performance in Paris," Johnson said.

That will depend on how well they've managed to fix their scrum, which turned into a shambles and contributed markedly to the loss to Wales last weekend. Hooker Ross Ford was frequently penalised for engaging early, but forwards coach Stevie Scott said that won't happen in Paris.

"Our scrum is built around speed and the height of the scrum. We will not change that," Scott said. "The referees are aware that we are not going early, but if you are not getting the engaging part right, it becomes pretty messy.

"The pleasing thing is that we go to France to face a side who want to scrum."

Scrums could feature high on the menu because heavy rain is forecast. For that reason, lock Sebastien Vahaamahina comes in for Christophe Samson and flanker Antoine Claassen replaces a tired Yannick Nyanga, with both set to make their first test starts. Mathieu Bastareaud takes over from Florian Fritz in midfield, and Frederic Michalak has stayed at flyhalf.

Michalak still hasn't reproduced his outstanding November form, but Saint-Andre defended his preference for Michalak ahead of Francois Trinh-Duc, and urged the crowd not to jeer him.

"I doubt that the people who cheered him on in November will boo him on Saturday," Saint-Andre said.

Scotland has gone for new lock Grant Gilchrist and flanker Alasdair Strokosch. Johnson said the 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Gilchrist, in for the injured Richie Gray, would have appeared earlier in the tournament if he hadn't been injured.

Scotland hasn't won in Paris since 1999, but Johnson was undaunted.

"France, a quality rugby nation who could have won all of their games," he said. "They could be going for a Grand Slam; here they are trying to get a victory.

"They say you shouldn't wake sleeping giants. But trust me, our intention is to wake them our way."

___

Lineups:

France: Yoann Huget, Vincent Clerc, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Maxime Medard, Frederic Michalak, Morgan Parra; Louis Picamoles, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Antoine Claassen, Yoann Maestri, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Nicolas Mas, Benjamin Kayser, Thomas Domingo. Reserves: Guilhem Guirado, Vincent Debaty, Luc Ducalcon, Christophe Samson, Yannick Nyanga, Maxime Machenaud, Francois Trinh-Duc, Florian Fritz.

Scotland: Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland, Sean Lamont, Matt Scott, Tim Visser, Duncan Weir, Greig Laidlaw; Johnnie Beattie, Kelly Brown (captain), Alasdair Strokosch, Jim Hamilton, Grant Gilchrist, Euan Murray, Ross Ford, Ryan Grant. Reserves: Dougie Hall, Moray Low, Geoff Cross, Alastair Kellock, Ryan Wilson, Henry Pyrgos, Ruaridh Jackson, Max Evans.

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