Five takeaways from France v Scotland

Following a 27-10 win for France over Scotland in their Six Nations encounter, here’s our five takeaways from the Paris clash on Saturday.

French mindset is a wonderful thing: It’s difficult to put into words how different that French performance was to the one that saw them go down without so much as a whimper against England at Twickenham. A fortnight ago they looked lost, lacking intent and ideas as they suffered a 44-8 defeat in Le Crunch, but from minute one in Paris on Saturday they were at the races. Huge physicality, led by captain Guilhem Guirado and his forward pack, got them on the front foot and that gave their half-backs the platform upon which to attack. Rugby is a simple game and if every player is passionate about the cause, few teams play it better than France. The game needs this French side to turn up every week.

Don’t change this team: That will be the message from French supporters looking ahead to their Round Four fixture against Ireland in Dublin on March 10. Wholesale alterations have been made following each of their first two games in the Six Nations but surely head coach Jacques Brunel will resist the need to tinker next month. Combinations all the over the field were superb and it would be foolish to change this XV.

Scottish absentees clear to see: Injuries have depleted this Scotland side this year and missing so many front-line players was hard felt in Paris as they struggled to rekindle the form that saw them ease past Italy in their opening match at Murrayfield. Missing the likes of John Barclay, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson, Sam Skinner, Richie Gray, WP Nel, Finn Russell, Huw Jones and Stuart Hogg, Gregor Townsend had to dig deep this week and it was apparent that they lacked both the size up front and attacking options to unlock the French defence. Despite their absentees, not crossing the whitewash until two minutes from time will be a concern for Scotland though as Les Bleus had shipped 68 points in their opening two matches.

Gaël Fickou and Antoine Dupont superb: While the entire French team impressed it feels necessary to lavish praise on the centre and scrum-half, Fickou and Dupont. Fickou, in his preferred position of inside centre, was outstanding with ball in hand and also defensively, giving Brunel a timely reminder of where he should remain on a long-term basis. Dupont meanwhile has now surely grabbed this shirt from his rivals as he was everywhere for France, proving the heartbeat of this much-needed victory.

Shame about the dive: One sour moment for France was the late dive from Romain Ntamack after the slightest of contact was made by Scotland replacement Gary Graham. While Ntamack can hold his head high following an impressive performance in the 10 jersey alongside Dupont, he’ll probably regret the theatrics. On the whole though he was excellent, finishing with 35 running metres and an incredible 20 tackles in Paris.