Match Previews 
/ Geoffrey Riddle / 03 February 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Is this the Scots' chance to end their miserable Parisian run?
"Scotland still lack incisive scoring ability and I’d prefer to go low in the total points market at 42.5, safe in the knowledge that Robinson’s side will make this a brutal test."
Andy Robinson has instilled in his team a steeliness that gives them a genuine chance of winning in Paris this weekend, says Geoffrey Riddle.
Scotland head over the Channel this weekend in the hope of overturning one of the worst records in Six Nations history. During the last 42 years of travelling to Paris, Scotland have just two wins to show for all the painful defeats that France have dished out.
There have been false dawns aplenty, many of which I have fallen for, but the evidence is there for all to see that Andy Robinson's well-drilled side have the best opportunity in Six Nations history of turning the tide.
Scotland's 23-20 victory last season over Ireland that denied them the Triple Crown in the final game at Croke Park provided the springboard to the sensational summer tour win over Argentina. It was the first tour victory for Scotland in their history and proves conclusively that Robinson has instilled a steeliness in his troops that has long been lacking.
Scotland have been handicap winners in eight of the 13 matches, and six of the last nine, that Robinson has presided over, and although there is a danger that the layers are waking up Scotland are certainly priced on the cusp of providing value in the 13.5-point market on Betfair.
According to the IRB rankings, Scotland have never been rated closer to France in the Six Nations. Just 0.46 points separate the two sides, the smallest since the 22-13 defeat in Paris in 2009. That day Scotland received a 15-point start by the bookmakers and were considered 2.79 points inferior. You do the math, as the Americans might say.
Robinson has also underlined the importance of a fast start, and his team have opened the scoring in nine matches under Robinson. It brings about the possibility that Scotland can strike first blood, and if they can withstand the inevitable French backlash early on they will be in pole position.
Robinson has stocked his forward larder with heavies, and so determined is he to face up to Les Bleus in front of the Parisian crowd that he has named beefcake Nathan Hines on the flank. France are not without their bruisers, either, and parity will not be good enough if Scotland are to cling on to France's coat-tails.
Marc Lievremont's side are in an awful run of form. The knives were sharpened with every try that Australia ran in during the final autumn international when Les Bleus were 16-16 with the Wallabies at half-time in Paris, before shipping 46 unanswered points.
To be level with Australia at the break was no mean feat, and at the end of a brutal four weeks just the thought that Australia were going to pull away was probably enough for the French to fold like an origami expert.
Like Wales, we have no idea what France are capable of this championship and as such it is too much of a leap of faith for me to invest my hard earned in something so intangible.
Scotland still lack incisive scoring ability, however, and I'd prefer to go low in the total points market at 42.5, safe in the knowledge that Robinson's side will make this a brutal test. If the French duck out, then so much the better.
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