Summary France owes its supporters a special performance against Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday.
PARIS (AP): After some abject performances in a tournament in which it started out among the favorites, France owes its supporters a special performance against Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday.
The French lost the first three games and remained on course for its first losing whitewash since 1957 until coach Philippe Saint-Andre s side scraped a 13-13 draw at Ireland last weekend.
"When you play in front of your fans, you want to do something special," France scrumhalf Morgan Parra said. "We have to play with the same continuity that we showed in the second half in Dublin, and we have to win."
Bereft of its usual flair and slick running game, France has been on the back foot for long spells in every game so far, and only the dynamic performances of No. 8 Louis Picamoles have stood out in a poor campaign which has led to suggestions that Saint-Andre should quit.
In contrast to the French, the Scots have beaten Italy and Ireland in an encouraging campaign.
"We have to hold on to the ball, because otherwise we ll be doing a lot of chasing. The Scots like to play, we know that," Parra said. "We re expecting a tough game."
Heavy rain is expected on Saturday night and that is partly why Saint-Andre made two changes to his pack. He also recalled center Mathieu Bastareaud and kept Frederic Michalak at flyhalf.
Lock Sebastien Vahaamahina comes in for Christophe Samson and Antoine Claassen replaces Yannick Nyanga at flanker, with both set to make their first test starts. Bastareaud takes over from Florian Fritz in midfield.
"Yannick is not as fresh as he was in November. He has been a good leader in the lineouts and broken a lot of tackles for us. But he hasn t broken more than he did in November and he knows it," Saint-Andre said. "I think it is better now to bring him on during the match so that he gives us all of his energy. Claassen can play at No. 6 or at No. 8. He has done well when he came on and I wanted to see him starting."
Michalak had a poor game with his kicking and passing against the Irish, but Saint-Andre has again preferred him to Francois Trinh-Duc to share the kicking duties with Parra.
Saint-Andre defended his decision to stick with the mercurial Michalak, who was outstanding in November test wins against Australia and Argentina but has been inconsistent during the Six Nations, and urged the crowd not to jeer him.
"I doubt that the people who cheered him on in November will boo him on Saturday when he sets foot on the Stade de France," Saint-Andre said. "We know how important he is within the squad."
Yoann Maestri has overcome a sore shoulder and will start at lock for the game at Stade de France.
France opened with a 23-18 loss at Italy, followed by a 16-6 home defeat to Wales and then a battling 23-13 loss at England.
"We are sad and we can t be happy about our Six Nations," Saint-Andre said. "But I feel there is pride in this team, we were 13-3 down in Ireland and managed to come back and almost won the game. I just want them to be able to go for it for a whole game."
Scotland lost 38-18 at England, then bounced back to beat Italy 34-10 and Ireland 12-8 before losing 28-18 at home to Wales.
It has been a low-scoring tournament for tries, and France has crossed the line only four times compared to six for Scotland, which relies on scrumhalf Greig Laidlaw s kicking.
Grant Gilchrist will make his debut for Scotland as one of two changes.
The 22-year-old Gilchrist comes in at lock to replace Richie Gray, who has been ruled out for about eight weeks after tearing his hamstring against Wales.
"I ve spoken of form and future, and he fits the bill in the latter category. But he s also keen as mustard and we want to look at him in the company of a very good French side," interim Scotland coach Scott Johnson said of the 2.03-meter (6-foot-8) Gilchrist.
Alasdair Strokosch is preferred to Rob Harley at blindside flanker after missing the past three matches due to an injury from the England match.
Usually battling to avoid the wooden spoon at this stage of the tournament, Scotland is third in an encouraging campaign.
"We have made some progress in this championship and it would be ideal to cement that by a winning performance in Paris," said Johnson, who could secure the position as full-time coach with a win.
