Scotland vs. France Preview: Are Les Bleus the favorite's?

The calendar is beginning to enter the most exciting time for rugby fans over a four-year period as the Rugby World Cup is just a stone’s throw away. 

With the the World Cup tournament so close all the best teams from across the globe sharpen their tools in a series of warm-up matches. This weekend the hosts of the global showpiece, France, travel to Murrayfield to face Scotland.

France may not have their front-line side but still boast a pretty serious pack with the likes of Sekou Macalou, Cameron Woki and Pierre Bougarit all looking for big games in this one. The bench is also pretty strong with Reda Wardi and Paul Willemse poised to make an impact.

Upfront will be key as if the Scots can match the French power they have some more than handy backline stars to cause havoc. Half-backs will be another key area in terms of kicking and game management. Scotland have the advantage of a settled combination at Test level whilst France opted against the Antoine Dupont-Romain Ntamack axis for this game. However, the quality of Matthieu Jalibert in particular is not to be doubted.

With the country’s all-time try scorer Stuart Hogg suddenly hanging up his boots, Blair Kinghorn’s importance in the squad has shot up significantly. The star has been there and thereabouts for some time on the Test scene but now has a real chance to cement himself as a starter.

The charismatic centre pairing ‘Huwipulotu’ is also an important component of the side. Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones have formed a really good partnership and it showed in the Six Nations.