FRANCE: RUGBY - The French rugby coach Bernard Laporte trains his players before France play Scotland at Stade de France

The French rugby team trained on Thursday (March 15) in Marcoussis, near Paris ahead of Saturday's decisive Six Nations match against Scotland in Paris. The "XV de France" French coach Bernard Laporte gave all his players his analysis of the reasons for their last failure against England. "Fortunately, the rest of the time we were good on the defence side because we were so weak on the offensive side that if our defence had broken down, we would have lost massively. Our defence and our pragmatism on foot, notably with our penalty kicking attempts, let us remain in the game. So, we want to go on with a match of another flavour, especially on the offensive side," said Laporte. French players have overcome the disappointment of their defeat by England and are now focused on Saturday's Six Nations finale against Scotland. "Yes, we did digest the last failure, we know where we were weaker. As I said, there is no gloomy and no pessimistic feelings in the group. We all want a happy ending for this tournament since we still have the possibility to win. It would be a very good thing to have this world cup," said the French player Clément Poitrenaud. French player Vincent Clerc said the motivation has always been there and remains. The "XV de France" team plans to enter Saturday's match with a strong will to win it with a wide margin. "We don't need to be outraged because I think that since the beginning, we have goals, we try to follow them. We failed on a match, we have not been efficient and there is no rebellion. There is just a common will to beat the Scots," said French rugby player Vincent Clerc. With France, Ireland and England level after three wins and a defeat, the championship is likely to be decided on points difference. France are on +42, Ireland, who play away in Rome, on +38 and England travel to Cardiff on +13. But French player Pieter de Villiers remains well aware of the challenge in Saturday's match against Scotland. "I think Scotland has got a very good team. I don't think they deserve the position they've got at the moment, they've got a very technical pack forward scrumming wise, line up wise. They compete very well, and I think it will also be a tough test for us this last match," said Pieter de Villiers. The French coach stated stated that underestimating the Scots would be a mistake despite their dire record in Paris.

ITN Source | March 16, 2007

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