Stand-in Scotland captain Finn Russell is bracing himself to face a full-strength France team in next weekend’s return Rugby World Cup warm-up game in Saint-Etienne.
Tournament hosts France fielded a largely second-string side during a 25-21 warm-up defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, although that did not stop ‘Les Bleus’ — one of the favourites to lift the Webb Ellis trophy — from surging into a 21-3 lead at the interval.
France head coach Fabien Galthie left out Antoine Dupont, Gael Fickou and Romain Ntamack among several established players, with debutant trio Paul Boudehent, Emilien Gailleton and Louis Bielle-Biarrey starting in Edinburgh.
The visitors looked all the more on course for victory when Scotland prop Zander Fagerson was sent off early in the second half before the hosts pulled clear.
“It was not their strongest team, a lot of their players will come back next week,” said fly-half Russell, who will play for English Premiership club Bath after the World Cup following a stint with Paris-based Racing 92.
“It will be a different team we face,” he added. “It was tough to prepare as a lot of the (French) boys have not played before, especially against us in the Six Nations, so we focused mainly on ourselves this week.
“Next week against them we can look at their players that come back and look back to the game from the Six Nations (in February) and analyse how they play and we will go from there. Next week will be a very different French team we face.”
‘Momentum’
Although well aware that France did not have all their star names on show at Murrayfield, the Scotland star said his side could take heart from a second-half display featuring tries from Darcy Graham, Pierre Schoeman and replacement Dave Cherry.
“The first half we did some good things but gave away some soft penalties and turnovers and the skills weren’t there,” said Russell. “In the second half we got a try early on that got us back into the game and got the momentum for us.
“It was great to have had that second half and play the way we wanted to. It showed the rugby we can play.”
The 30-year-old Russell was captaining Scotland for the first time on Saturday in the absence of injured skipper Jamie Ritchie, who hopes to return in Saint-Etienne following a calf issue.
“It was good fun,” said Russell when asked about captaining Scotland.
“As a 10 (fly-half) on the pitch you tend to talk a lot and chat with other leaders. It was more the relationship with the referee and having those key decisions at certain times such as ‘do we go for the posts, or the corner?’ That was the main difference.
“At half-time it was maybe not the most enjoyable but the second half it was good.”
Scotland are in a fearsomely tough group at the World Cup that also includes defending champions South Africa and Six Nations Grand Slam winners Ireland, with only the top two teams from Pool B advancing to the quarter-finals.
