Class of '99 want a more expansive performance against France

Sports Journalist

Tuesday 12 March 2013

It was one of the most lustrous afternoons in Scottish rugby history: a rare occasion in April 1999 when the team's journey to Paris turned into a feast of feints, back flips, flamboyant flair and a flurry of tries for the visitors, rather than the normal scenario of their French foes uncorking the champagne.

Alan Tait scores the first of his two tries as Scotland record one of their finest victories in Paris in 1999. Picture: Allsport

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Neil Drysdale

Instead, the Scots racked up 33 points and five tries, through a brace apiece from Martin Leslie and Alan Tait and another from Gregor Townsend, in the first 27 minutes of the contest and, although they had to defend for significant parts of the second period, en route to their 36-22 triumph, this was a bravura recital of the "Power of Scotland".

The SRU's finest have never won in the French capital since that glorious exhibition from Gary Armstrong's team, yet they will venture across the Channel later this week in the knowledge that they will rarely have a better opportunity to inflict fresh misery on Les Bleus, who will collect the wooden spoon if they lose their final fixture at the denouement of what has been a wretched campaign for Philippe Saint-Andre's men.Armstrong certainly believes his compatriots have a chance, but only if they eschew the pragmatic approach which has limited their options against Ireland and Wales. "France look vulnerable at the moment and if you get into their faces and put some points on the board, their supporters let their frustrations show," said Armstrong, whose charges surged to the last Five Nations title 14 years ago, following their success in Paris and Wales' dramatic injury-time defeat of England the next day."When we met them in 1999, the sun was on their backs, they scored a try [through Thomas Castaignede] in the first minute, and it seemed as if we were going to be under the cosh. But we had pace among our backs, our forwards put in a terrific shift, and it was one of these days when everything just clicked. We backed ourselves to cause them problems and that was an important thing. I'm not saying you can't beat them by keeping things tight, but we've been too conservative so far."It's not as if we don't have guys who can cause the French problems, not with people like Stuart Hogg and Tim Visser in the ranks. But we have to get the ball to these lads: whatever happens, we will finish above them in the table and the pressure is all on them, so our boys should express themselves."As a dual internationalist in union and league, Tait could scarcely stifle his yawns during the Scots' tedious dalliance with an overly pedantic referee at Murrayfield last weekend, but he shares Armstrong's opinion that it isn't enough to blame officials or persist in playing the percentages. In which light, the Borderer wants to see a little more dynamism and variety, allied to players turning out in their best positions."I'm not going to be overly critical about Scotland kicking the ball, because it seems to be becoming an increasingly common feature in rugby these days, but I'm not convinced that we will beat France by being safe and waiting for them to make mistakes, said Tait. "When we won over there, we had a settled line-up with me at 13, John Leslie at 12, while Gregor was at his best in the stand-off role and Glenn Metcalfe was excellent at 15. We were all where we wanted to be, where we were most comfortable, and where we could cause the most problems for the opposition."I don't think you can necessarily say that about the current Scottish side, not when you have Sean Lamont turning out at centre. Don't get me wrong, I am one of his biggest fans, but, for me, he is an out-and-winger, who is being picked to do a specific role, but who isn't really being allowed to attack or bring those round about him into the game. To some extent, it has worked in the Six Nations, but if we want to bring the best out of Hogg and [Sean] Maitland out wide, we have to get the ball to them."Given the modern preoccupation with defence, it's hardly probable that Scott Johnson's line-up will be granted space in which to flourish or that any of the present French players will share the despair of Emile Ntamack, who admitted in the wake of the '99 tussle: "We were ridiculous. As soon as the pace of the game sped up, we were powerless and could have lost by 50 points."But, as Armstrong concluded, the Scots can't keep relying on Greig Laidlaw's boot to keep them in contention in these encounters."It might sound obvious, but I just want to see us play some rugby and, if that happens, I am optimistic we can bother the French," said the tigerish little scrum-half. "If you don't take risks, you might cut down the errors. But it does make it easier for the other side to stop you."It sounds so simple. But the question is whether Scotland can afford to gamble, minus such world-class luminaries as Armstrong and Tait.

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Class of '99 want a more expansive performance against France

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