The tried and tested against the new revolutionaries, the teamwork of Scotland against the individual flair of the French; it is easy to characterise tomorrow’s match at Murrayfield in terms of the contrasts. Even the coaching pedigrees of the men in charge pander to the stereotype, Frank Hadden representing continuity and experience; Marc Lièvremont the raw and untried.
It is not that simple, though. Within the framework of deciding to use only one player who was not involved at the World Cup, Hadden has been bold and experimental to the extent of dropping Chris Paterson, his main points scorer; Lièvremont has kept a core of experience to guide the youngsters.
The team Scotland are facing may evolve into a world-beating unit, but they have been assembled from 11 clubs and met for the first time on Monday. So the pressure appears to be on Scotland, who have the established team and are playing at home in front of a sell-out crowd, so expectations are high. “We are hoping for great things,” Ross Ford, the hooker, said. “It’s a tricky game. They [France] are full of talented individuals, but if we nail the basics, we can get a good result.”
The back row also has a new look, with John Barclay, a specialist open-side, slotting in for his second cap alongside David Callam, who surprisingly won the No8 position left vacant by Simon Taylor’s unavailability with a thumb injury.
Murrayfield teams
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Scotland: R Lamont (Sale Sharks); N Walker (Ospreys), N De Luca (Edinburgh), A Henderson (Glasgow), S Webster (Edinburgh); D Parks (Glasgow), M Blair (Edinburgh); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton), N Hines (Perpignan), J Hamilton (Leicester), J White (Sale Sharks, captain), J Barclay (Glasgow), D Callam (Edinburgh). Replacements: F Thomson (Glasgow), G Kerr (Edinburgh), S MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), K Brown (Glasgow), C Cusiter (Perpignan), C Paterson (Gloucester), H Southwell (Edinburgh).
France: C Heymans (Toulouse); J Malzieu (Clermont Auvergne), D Marty (Perpignan), DTraille (Biarritz), V Clerc (Toulouse); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), J-BElissalde (Toulouse); L Faure (Sale Sharks), W Servat (Toulouse), J Brugnaut (Dax), L Jacquet (Clermont Auvergne), L Nallet (Castres, captain), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), TDusautoir (Toulouse), E Vermeulen (Clermont Auvergne). Replacements: D Szarzewski (Stade Français), N Mas (Perpignan), A Mela (Albi), J Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne), M Parra (Bourgoin), D Skrela (Stade Français), A Rougerie (Clermont Auvergne).
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).
Television: Live on BBC One from 2.30pm (kick-off 3pm).