France hitting their straps at the right time

France v Scotland
Stade de France
Saturday, 8pm (BT Sport 1)

Under the lights in Paris on Saturday night two flankers will be centres of attention. Thierry Dusautoir, who has won 75 French caps, is back after injury to lead his side. John Hardie, after 57 minutes on the field for his newly-adopted country, will be facing him in Scotland's back row.

This week's selection in Vern Cotter's World Cup squad of Hardie, who has left Otago Highlanders to pursue an international career, has caused a few ripples in Scotland.

Hardie has jumped the queue that included John Barclay, scorer of a try in his comeback against Italy last weekend, and another Kiwi Blair Cowan. Neither will play in the World Cup.

The 27-year-old Hardie qualifies to play for Scotland through a grandmother from Culross in Fife and his brother Grant played for the Peebles club six years ago. Scotland’s Kiwi coach, Cotter, is nothing if not a pragmatist and believes Hardie is a major asset despite being in the country for little more than six weeks.

Scotland’s supporters would not care if Hardie had flown in from Mars if he could do what another New Zealand-born flanker did in 1999, the first time Scotland played at Stade de France.

Martin Leslie scored two tries and his brother John helped galvanise Scotland's backline in a thrilling 36-22 victory, the last time Scotland triumphed in Paris.

France have made two changes from the side that beat England 25-20, Dusautoir replacing Bernard Le Roux in the back row and Alexandre Flanquart in for Yoann Maestri at lock.

France are hitting their straps at the right time, as they usually do when the World Cup is approaching.

Their coach, Philippe Saint-Andre, says this weekend’s side, with Frederic Michalak resuming at fly-half, will be pretty much how his team lines up when they play their first World Cup match against Italy at Twickenham in a fortnight.

“I am very pleased with the progress of the team,” said Saint-Andre. “But we have to play with the intensity we showed in Paris against England because we know how dangerous Scotland can be.”

France: Scott Spedding; Yoann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Noa Nakaitaci; Frederic Michalak, Sebastien Tillous Borde; Eddy Ben Arous, Guilhem Guirado, Rabah Slimani; Pascal Pape, Alexandre Flanquart; Thierry Dusautoir, Damien Chouly, Louis Picamoles. Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski, Vincent Debaty, Nicolas Mas, Bernard Le Roux, Yannick Nyanga, Morgan Parra, Remi Tales, Alexandre Dumoulin

Scotland: Sean Maitland; Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett, Matt Scott, Tim Visser; Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw; Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, Willem Nel; Richie Gray, Jonny Gray; Ryan Wilson, John Hardie, David Denton. Replacements: Fraser Brown, Gordon Reid, Jon Welsh, Tim Swinson, Alasdair Strokosch, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Duncan Weir, Sean Lamon

Guardian Service