Scotland and France may both have played tests this past weekend and will play again in the coming weekend.  However, the two teams are in quite different places at the moment with France pulling off a very good win against Australia while Scotland suffered a big defeat to New Zealand.

Furthermore, Scotland have numerous players on the injury list ahead of their game against South Africa on Saturday which is great concern for head coach Andy Robinson. On the other hand, France’s coach Philippe Saint-Andre was able to announce an unchanged squad for their game against Argentina.

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Scotland Injury News

Scotland were left battered and bruised following their 51-22 drubbing by New Zealand in Edinburgh last Sunday.

The Scots were left with a long list of casualties as they look ahead to another tough encounter against South Africa on Saturday.  

Openside flank Ross Rennie tops the list of walking wounded after he dislocated his shoulder in the opening quarter of the match against the All Blacks and looks set to miss the clash with the Springboks.

“Ross was seen and treated at the stadium yesterday by Graham Lawson, consultant orthopaedic surgeon,” Scotland team doctor James Robson said on Monday.

“He has been reviewed today at Spire Murrayfield Hospital and will now be in the care of shoulder specialist Miss Julie McBirnie for further assessment, which will give us a better indication of his rehabilitation schedule.”

Dr Robson added: “In addition to Ross’s injury there is the usual array of assorted soft tissue disruption associated with Test match rugby of yesterday’s intensity.

“As ever, 48 hours post a match of such physicality will give us a better indication of how players are recovering.”

Among the casualties are double try-scorer Tim Visser (flank), props Geoff Cross (ribs) and Ryan Grant (back), hooker Scott Lawson (shoulder), lock Jim Hamilton (dead leg) and centres Matt Scott (shoulder) and Nick De Luca (calf).

Scotland coach Andy Robinson said he was disappointed with his team’s defensive effort after they leaked six tries to the world champions.

“If you sit off New Zealand they’re a very good attacking team and they will take you apart,” said Robinson.

“That was a lesson that we knew before going into this game, that we had to get off the line, that we had to put them under pressure.

“We did in parts, but you’ve got to do that consistently for the whole 80 minutes. I thought we just dropped off a little bit on our line-speed and allowed them to play too comfortably.”

France Squad News

France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has named an unchanged 24-man squad for the Test against Argentina in Lille on Saturday.

Toulouse lock Yoann Maestri, who withdrew from the match against the Wallabies with a back injury, is the key injury concern and will be closely monitored this week.

Saint-Andre’s charges will be brimming with confidence and look to build on their 33-6 victory over Australia but will be wary of a Pumas side coming off a upset in over Six Nations champions Wales.

France squad:

Forwards (14): Thomas Domingo (Clermont), Yannick Forestier (Castres), Benjamin Kayser (Clermont), Dimitri Szarzewski (Racing-Métro), Vincent Debaty (Clermont), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Yoann Maestri (Toulouse), Pascal Papé (Stade Français, capt), Jocelino Suta (Toulon), Sébastien Vahaamahina (Perpignan), Damien Chouly (Clermont), Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse).

Backs (10): Maxime Machenaud (Racing-Métro), Morgan Parra (Clermont), Frédéric Michalak (Toulon), François Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Brice Dulin (Castres), Wesley Fofana (Clermont), Florian Fritz (Toulouse), Yoann Huget (Toulouse), Maxime Mermoz (Toulon).