Six Nations: Victory is imperative as France seek to bounce back against Scotland 

The former French flanker has been under increasing pressure since a disappointing set of November internationals, but the fluidity of some of the national team’s play against Ireland hinted at a brighter future for Les Bleus.

Lièvremont is in that tricky situation of trying to re-establish French flair while at the same time satisfying critics with positive results. To further complicate the formula he is also endeavouring to bring through a raft of young talent that he coached to victory in the 2006 Under-21 World Cup.

Ill-discipline – in the shape of giving away needless penalties – cost France dear against Ireland, and was symptomatic of the minor details that make the difference between winning and losing with a side in transition.

Against Australia in November it was the wayward place-kicking of David Skrela that let them down, but at least Lièvremont appears to have solved that particular problem with the selection of Stade Francais’ Lionel Beauxis at fly-half.

The 23-year-old had a decent game against Ireland with his out of hand kicking and general distribution, and also managed to land a tricky conversion from the sidelines as well as two opportunistic drop-goals.

He will resume his half-back partnership with Sebastien Tillous-Borde but the opportunity to feed an entirely Toulousain back-line has been denied him by the citing and suspension of centre Florian Fritz. In his place Lièvremont has brought in another of his exciting young talents with Clermont’s Benoit Baby (25) stepping up from the bench and leaving the coach to rue Fritz’s actions.

“I am both disappointed and relieved,” he said after the Toulouse centre had been banned for three weeks, but cleared of eye gouging. “It will serve as a lesson to Florian who is an aggressive player, which is a good thing. But I think in rugby there is the possibility within the rules to hurt your opponent,” he reflected.

Elsewhere, Lièvremont has tried to strengthen the under-performing second row by dropping Sebastien Chabal to the bench and bringing in yet another Toulousain – 25-year-old Romain Millo-Chluski. This may be hard on Chabal – who Lièvremont appears to view as more of an impact sub than a solid starter – as his second row compatriot Lionel Nallet also had a disappointing match, and has been struggling with his form for most of the season.

The problem with axing Nallet, of course, is that he is the French captain and Lièvremont clearly has no intentions of going down that route – not yet anyway. Nallet is the only player who has started all of Lièvremont's matches since taking over as France coach, and the sobriquet ‘special one’ may be apt in this case.

Chabal, while accepting his fate with dignity, is clearly unimpressed with his tag as a ‘super-sub’.

“I have never considered myself an ‘impact player’,” he said. “When I am on the bench it is clear that I bring gas and penetrative qualities when I come on. But when I start a match I am also picked for the same reasons,” he added.

However, the Sale player was quick to defend Lièvremont when asked about France’s generally disappointing results this season.

“We have the means and the team to win games but we have made a few mistakes in certain areas,” he said. “The team is growing little by little. We are asking for time but it is a while since we won an important match,” he admitted.

“I understand that the public and the press are starting to become impatient but we now where we are going,” he added.

Scotland have problems of their own in the second row with Perpignan’s Nathan Hines now likely to miss the entire Six Nations due to knee surgery. Hines’ club colleague Chris Cusiter makes the bench but Simon Taylor – who plays for Stade Francais – is in the starting XV.

Scotland’s coach Frank Hadden has also been under-fire this week following their 26-13 home defeat by Wales, primarily for the omission of the Evans brothers (Thom and Max), which was seen as a conservative selection.

Max underlined his own credentials by coming off the bench to score a fine individual try and Hadden has remedied his selection this week with the inclusion of both.

The Toulouse players will be only too aware of the pace these siblings can provide following their shock home defeat to Glasgow in the Heineken Cup, a fact acknowledged by Yannick Jauzion this week.

“The Scots rely on their opportunistic players and give their all in defence, like all Gaelic teams. They have a lot of their players in support who are capable of making a break at any time. They are more attacking than the Irish and it will be up to us to adapt,” said the experienced centre.

But, while the Toulouse defeat should serve as a cautionary tale, there is no doubt that Les Bleus will rightly start as favourites on Saturday, especially as Scotland hasn’t won in France for a decade.

The Stade de France will again demand beautiful flowing rugby, laden with pitch-length sweeping moves that culminate in a glorious tries – but a victory by any means will do for Lièvremont right now.