Preview: Scotland v France

With the World Cup but a distant memory, the Six Nations is upon us once again and Sunday sees Scotland play host to reigning champions France at Murrayfield.

With the World Cup but a distant memory, the Six Nations is upon us once again and Sunday sees Scotland play host to reigning champions France at Murrayfield.

The last chapter in Scotland's rugby history was not one to remember, the ghosts of Murrayfield will be glad for the chance of a new beginning on Sunday. The World Cup came to Murrayfield, albeit only in the form of two group games, but that was it. Scotland crashed out of the tournament to Argentina in the quarter-finals and have been left licking their wounds for the last three months.

This is not to say it has been a dark three months for Scottish rugby, far from it in fact. Glasgow came within touching distance of a Heineken Cup quarter-final berth, and Edinburgh have grown progressively stronger, a development that culminated in a notable win over Leicester Tigers last month. Renewed hope aplenty then, further boosted by Frank Hadden's decision to stay on as national coach.

And now to Sunday and a game Scotland believe they have more than a fair chance of winning. It is not difficult to see their reasoning either, for one they have a settled look to their side. Granted there are a few new faces amongst their ranks but they are among familiar faces, faces of players who have a wealth of experience to call upon.

Hadden has gone with form at fly-half, and rightly so as Dan Parks has been in fine fettle with Glasgow. Chris Paterson is duly relegated to the bench, a position he is becoming familiar with at Gloucester where he is struggling for game time. Parks, more so than anybody, will be confident he can help Scotland start their campaign with a bang, providing some of his own fireworks to go with the glut put on by Murrayfield officials before kick-off.

When you add to the equation the fact that Les Bleus are anything but settled, the Scottish math starts to add up. But what all this doesn't take into account is that this is France, the side who, regardless of their team, can make the world's best look ordinary – just ask New Zealand.

A new coach, Marc Li̬vremont, a host of new players, a rookie fly-half, a back row with just 19 caps amongst them and plenty of youthful exuberance Рor inexperience, depending how you look at it Рon the bench. Yet this is still a side the bookies are backing to defend their Six Nations crown.

Li̬vremont, something of a surprise appointment as national coach, has made it clear he will do things his way Рwhich means there is no room for sentiment or favour. Instead he has a new vision, clearly a very different one from Bernard Laporte's, a vision that will only become clearer as time goes by.

The inclusion of François Trinh-Duc at fly-half is the biggest of Lièvremont's statements of intent. A player who has only had a handful of Top 14 games but is already making headlines, Trinh-Duc is faced with a devil of a job. It is well known that fans of Les Bleus like a fly-half who can spark the French flair, but if the chosen number ten is not up to the task, the “bourgeois s**ts” – as Laporte famously dubbed those in attendance at Stade de France – can turn on the team in an instant.

Thankful then will Trinh-Duc be for having experienced heads either side of him, calming influences when the going gets a little rough, as no doubt it will for a new-look French side stepping out for the first time together on foreign soil. That the pivot has, in Cédric Heymans and Vincent Clerc, two of Europe's finest attacking players at his disposal will be of further comfort to the youngster.

We are left to eagerly await a game that will begin to provide answers to the many questions that have arisen this week – questions only Sunday's game will answer. The answers will not be definite but they will certainly allow us to garner an idea of what the future holds for two sides equally as hungry as each other for success.

Players to Watch:

For Scotland: With so much made of Chris Paterson's omission from the XV, all eyes will be on his replacement, Dan Parks. The Glasgow fly-half has been in tremendous form thus far this season. He was instrumental in his side's Heineken Cup campaign with several astute displays taking them within inches of qualification for the quarter-finals. That he has been preferred to Paterson at fly-half is not so much of a surprise, that Paterson is on the bench is. It will be intriguing to see how he goes against François Trinh-Duc, a player that Scotland will have little knowledge of. But most of all it will be of great interest to see if he proves he deserves the fly-half shirt ahead of Paterson.

For France: With coach Marc Lièvremont giving France a major face-lift there are a host of new names you will want to watch, yet the one man who stands out is fly-half François Trinh-Duc. The uncapped 21-year-old star of a rapidly improving Montpellier is charged with filling France's troublesome number ten jersey. Over the last few years several have tried but none have tamed the beast and made the position their own, and now Trinh-Duc is the latest in a long line. In his own words he “lacks a little experience” but that might just play into his hands as he looks to play by “instinct and feeling”.

Head to Head: John Barclay v Thierry Dusautoir: France are at the start of a new chapter in their illustrious history, Scotland are seemingly stuck on the same page. But both now have, within their ranks, players who can write the next line of their respective stories. Thierry Dusautoir, the 'Dark Destroyer', and John Barclay, the quiet Glasgow boy, will fight tooth and nail on Sunday. Dusautoir has, in a relatively short international career, proven to be world-class; Barclay has it all to do. One cap against New Zealand and brimming with potential, this is his chance to cement a place in the Scotland side, but to do so he will have to beat New Zealand's newest nemesis at his own game.

Recent results:

2007: France won 46-19 at Stade de France, Paris
2006: Scotland won 20-16 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh
2005: France won 16-9 at Stade de France, Paris
2004: France won 31-0 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh
2003: France won 51-9 at Stadium Australia, Sydney (RWC)
2003: France won 38-3 at Stade de France, Paris
2002: France won 22-10 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh
2001: France won 16-6 at Stade de France, Paris
2000: France won 28-16 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh
1999: Scotland won 36-22 at Stade de France, Paris
1998: France won 51-16 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh
1997: France won 47-20 at Parc des Princes, Paris

Prediction: It is going to be a game full of intrigue, that much is for certain. France may be a new-look side, Scotland may be settled, but something points towards France. It won't be a landslide but it will be a victory. This will be the starting point of