France v Scotland RBS Six Nations Rugby Predictions and Preview – 12th February

Scots to find French too tough in Paris

Rugby Betting

France v Scotland RBS Six Nations Rugby Predictions and Preview – 3.00pm

What a turn up for the books Scotland produced on the opening weekend of the RBS Six Nations 2017. There was much talk about them in the pre-tournament build up about their chances going into the new edition of the Six Nations, and Vern Cotter’s men dug deep to find a way to win at home against Ireland last weekend. Scotland pulled out a 27-22 win against the odds.

France v Scotland RBS Six Nations Winner Odds

France 2/5, Scotland 9/4, Draw 22/1

Their defence was a remarkable thing to behold, it was pulled all over the place, but passionate defending saw them hang in there and when it came to attack the only difference was that the Scots took their chances whereas the Irish didn’t. It sounds simple but that is a marked change of fortunes for the men in blue who have long been a symbol of passion, pride but not points in the Six Nations.

The Scots had reached out to a big 21-5 lead, but you always fancied that the Irish would get their way back into the game, particularly with Scotland coming off second best in the scrum. Ireland were 22-21 ahead at one point, and it looked as if the Scots were going to be ruing another day of a missed opportunity at victory. But Cotter’s men never gave up, and Greig Laidlaw send over two late penalties to give them the win despite only taking 30% possession in the second half of the game.

The Scots, particularly through Stuart Hogg, were clinical in their attack and they punished Irish mistakes, which isn’t something that you can often say about them. So what next for Scotland as they step out against France on the weekend? Les Bleus have to find a way back into the tournament after suffering a narrow defeat at Twickenham against England. The French were positive and controlled the game against the English for long periods.

As expected, the recent shake up that they have gone through looks more likely that they will be taking step forward this season in the Six Nations after their form in the event had nosedived for a few seasons. The French only started to tire later on in the match which allowed England the opportunity to claw their way back and land a record 15th victory in a row. Perhaps most notably of all, is that there were clear flashes of French flair creeping back into their game, something that has been missing for a fair while.

In last season’s Six Nations, Scotland took a home win over France and a big 29-18 one at that as well. That snapped a nine match losing streak in the Six Nations that the Scots were on against Les Blues. France have won their last eight in a row at the Stade de France against Scotland in the Six Nations, losing just one of the last ten on home soil against them. Four of the last six between them in France has seen the French win by a margin of 9 or less.

A France -6 handicap at Paddy Power looks to be right on the money at a price of 10/11 and the French will be going into the match up as favourite. That was a massive effort from the Scots last weekend to hang on in there against the French, who may not be as generous as Ireland were in making mistakes with the ball.

Six Nations 2017 Outright Odds

England 8/15, Ireland 11/2, Wales 11/2, Scotland 8/1, France 16/1, Italy 1000/1

Online betting site Paddy Power are running a 10 Up -You Win RBS Six Nations Rugby Betting promotion. They will pay you out as a winner immediately if your team goes 10 points up at any stage in the game. This offer applies to pre-match singles in the match betting market only and there is no maximum stake on the offer either! This applies to all games in the Six Nations this weekend only (February 11th/12th).