Preview: Scotland v France
The clash sees a Scotland team fresh from a first win in 10 Championship games, hosting a French side who lost for the first time under Guy Novès. A win for France could put Les Bleus back in contention for the title, but Scotland will want to consign to history their recent poor run of results at their historic home.
Scotland's victory in Italy in Round Three ended their nine game losing run in the Six Nations. The Scotsmen have not won successive matches in the Championship since 2013. The Scots have been victorious in a Round Four encounter just once since 2001 – beating England 15-9 at Murrayfield in 2008.
Scotland have lost their last seven Six Nations encounters at Murrayfield and have never before lost eight in a row at home in the 133-year history of the Championship.
France's only away victory in any Test since they last visited Murrayfield in 2014, came on a trip to Rome in Round Four last year. France have won their last 10 test matches against Scotland since their 16-20 reversal at Murrayfield in the Six Nations a decade ago.
France have won on their last four visits to Murrayfield and have never won five in row at Scotland's headquarters.
Players to watch:
For Scotland: Captain Greig Laidlaw will be their go-to guy for much needed points as he has been carrying the side since the start of the tournament. Josh Strauss will want to impress in his first start of the tournament while Stuart Hogg will certainly be a handful for the French from broken play.
For France: Guilhem Guirado will be key to France's success, not only by leading from the front but also providing the crucial anchor at scrum time. Flank Damien Chouly will be a thorn in Scotland's side at the breakdown and it will be interesting to see what sort of impact Wesley Fofana will have on the match while playing at wing.
Head to head: The front row battle will be an exciting one and should set the tone for what is to be expected from the rest fo the match while the loose forwards will be at each other's throat's throughout. Tim Visser will have to be at his very best to stop the threat of Wesley Fofana while the kicking battle between Greig Laidlaw and Francois Trinh-Duc makes for an interesting showdown.
Recent results:
2015: France won 19-16, Paris
2015: France won 15-8, Paris
2014: France won 19-17, Edinburgh
2013: France won 23-16, Paris
2012: France won 23-17, Edinburgh
2011: France won 34-21, Paris
2010: France won 18-9, Edinburgh
2009: France won 22-13, Paris
2008: France won 27-6, Edinburgh
2007: France won 46-19, Paris
Prediction: Scotland will certainly have plenty of grunt in their pack of forwards and will, as always, heavily rely on the boot of captain Greig Laidlaw to keep them in the contest. However, France's backline will be the difference in this encounter and the away side should pick up a victory by at least a converted try.
Teams:
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Moray Low, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Sean Lamont.
France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Yacouba Camara, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (captain), 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Vincent Pelo, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Sebastien Bezy, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Maxime Medard.
Expected weather: Pack in your jackets, it is going to be a cold one – cloudy with a maximum of 11 and nothing more than a gentle breeze.
