Rugby. 6 Nations Tournament: The Blues must beat Scotland to reach the final.

For a first title in the Tournament since 2018, the path of the French XV de France women will go through Scotland this Saturday, after a perfect start to the competition, before facing England in the final showdown. After the first three matches under new coach François Ratier, the French women have the same number of points as the English team: a perfect 15 out of 15 thanks to three bonus point victories against Italy (40-7), Wales (38-7), and Ireland (26-7). However, they are second due to the difference in points scored/conceded, and it seems unlikely that they will be able to close this gap (+136 against +83) before the final day of the tournament.

Although the English team’s lead in points difference comes from their big win against Scotland, who were beaten 84-7 on the second matchday, even though the match was played at Murrayfield and not at the nearby Hive stadium where the French women’s team will play. “We don’t talk about England,” assured François Ratier on Thursday when announcing the team lineup.

Despite the good results so far, there is still work to be done for the team, especially in finding a way to avoid slow starts and weak first halves compared to their second-half performances. “The three starts are similar, meaning we immediately give the ball to the opponent and then we have to rely on a solid defense. We cannot afford to start like that,” said the coach. “Once again this week, we really focused on these first 20 minutes so these difficulties don’t happen again,” added the coach.

“It’s also up to us to take control,” said prop Assia Khalfaoui. “We rely a lot on the staff, but it’s us on the field. We need to find a way to wake up from the first minute in training to reproduce the attitude in matches.” The coach has shown confidence in the team, with only one new player in the squad, substitute prop Annaëlle Deshaye. However, he made three changes in the pack, rewarding the strong performances of flanker Charlotte Escudero and lock Siobhan Soqeta in previous matches.

This preparation will help improve teamwork against a team that is not at the same level on paper, coming off a heavy defeat in Italy (41-14). The Scottish coach made seven changes, including the returns of Rhona Lloyd on the wing and Louise McMillan in the second row. “We know we can try to make them move so they get tired faster than us, because I think we are ahead of some teams in terms of fitness and movement,” said flanker Léa Champon during the week. “Matches like this, there are many in sports history, and it’s always the same story: if we neglect the opponent just based on their ranking, we expose ourselves to big disappointments,” warned François Ratier.

GROUP: Barrat – Grando, Rousset, T. Feleu), Murie (Stade Toulousain – (o) Arbez, Bourdon Sansus – M. Feleu (cap), Champon, Escudero – Fall Raclot, Soqeta – Khalfaoui, Lazarko, Brosseau. Substitutes: Riffonneau, Mwayembe, Deshaye, Cissokho, Zago, Berthoumieu, Chambon, Queyroi.