Men's Preview – 26-28 March, 2021
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Men’s preview – 26- 28 March, 2021 jon Men’s preview – 26-28 March, 2021 MEN’S INTERNATIONALS – 26-28 MARCH, 2021 WORLD RUGBY MEN’S RANKINGS STATS • France will surrender third place immediately if they fail to beat Scotland • They will also drop below Ireland if they lose to Scotland – falling three places to sixth if that margin is by more than 15 points with Wales also leapfrogging them • Les Bleus cannot improve on third as the maximum gain possible for victory is 0.14 rating points • Scotland will remain ninth even with a loss by more than 15 points in France • However, Scotland will climb above Argentina into eighth if they avoid defeat • Georgia cannot improve their rating with victory over Romania due to a difference of more than 10 points when home weighting in factored in • The Lelos will only fall one place if they lose by more than 15 points against Romania – something that hasn’t happened since 2006 • Romania will climb above Uruguay if they draw with Georgia • Victory will lift Romania two places to 16th – a position they last occupied in July 2018 • Portugal will jump three places to 21st with victory over neighbours Spain but cannot return to the top 20 as a win by more than 15 points will leave them 0.01 behind Russia • A draw would be enough to lift Portugal above Namibia into 23rd • Spain cannot fall from 19th even with an emphatic defeat • Los Leones will regain 18th place if they win in Portugal and Romania lose to Georgia • If Romania do upset Georgia then Spain must win by more than 15 points to return to 18th at Uruguay’s expense • Portugal will drop a place to 25th if they lose by more than 15 points FRANCE (3) 86.17 v SCOTLAND (9) 80.12 Scotland win by 15 points or less – France 86.27, Scotland 80.02 Scotland win by more than 15 points – France 86.31, Scotland 79.98 Draw – France 85.27, Scotland 81.02 Scotland win by 15 points or less – France 84.27, Scotland 82.02 Scotland win by more than 15 points – France 83.31, Scotland 82.98 PORTUGAL (24) 60.88 v SPAIN (19) 66.03 Portugal win by 15 points or less – Portugal 62.10, Spain 64.82 Portugal win by more than 15 points – Portugal 62.70, Spain 64.21 Draw – Portugal 61.10, Spain 65.82 Spain win by 15 points or less – Portugal 60.10, Spain 66.82 Spain win by more than 15 points – Portugal 59.70, 67.21 GEORGIA (12) 73.73 v ROMANIA (18) 66.22 Georgia win by 15 points or less – Georgia 73.73, 66.22 (No change) Georgia win by more than 15 points – Georgia 73.73, 66.22 (No change) Draw – Georgia 72.73, Romania 67.22 Romania win by 15 points or less – Georgia 71.73, Romania 68.22 Romania win by more than 15 points – Georgia 70.73, Romania 69.22 The World Rugby Men’s Rankings update every Monday at 12:00 GMT. 1 Men’s preview – 26-28 March, 2021 SIX NATIONS 2021 – 26 MARCH FRANCE v SCOTLAND – STADE DE FRANCE, SAINT-DENIS – KO 21:00 (20:00 GMT) Head to head Played: 97 – France leads 56-38 with three draws Points for: France 1,440 / Scotland 1,223 (avg. score: France 14-12 Scotland) Highest score: France 51 (51-16 on 21 February, 1998 and 51-9 on 25 October, 2003) / Scotland 36 (36-22 on 10 April, 1999) Biggest winning margin: France 42 (51-9 on 25 October, 2003) / Scotland 28 (31-3 on 20 January, 1912) First met: 22 January, 1910 – Scotland 27-0 France – Inverleith, Edinburgh Last met: 22 November, 2020 – France 22-15 Scotland – Murrayfield, Edinburgh Referee: Wayne Barnes (England) Debut as referee: 24 June, 2006 – Fiji 23-20 Samoa Tests as referee: 95 Six Nations debut: 3 February, 2007 – Italy 3-39 France Six Nations tests as referee: 24 World Rugby Referee Award recipient in 2019 • Wayne Barnes will extend his record of Six Nations matches refereed to 25 • Barnes has refereed this fixture five times – twice in Six Nations, twice in RWC warm-up matches and once in the Autumn Nations Cup • France have won both Six Nations encounters – 34-21 at Stade de France in 2011 and 23-17 at Murrayfield in 2012 – as well as the RWC 2015 warm-up (19-16 at Stade de France) and the Autumn Nations Cup match at Murrayfield (22-15) • Scotland won the other, 17-14 in the RWC 2019 warm-up match at Murrayfield • France must secure a bonus-point win by 21 points or more to claim the Six Nations title – for the first time since 2010 • If France win by 20 points and score six tries they will also be crowned champions. However, if they win by 20 and score five tries the title will be shared for the first time since 1988 – when Wales and France were joint winners of the Five Nations • Les Bleus have only achieved that victory margin (21+) once in their last 17 matches with Scotland, a 32-3 win in a RWC 2019 warm-up match in Nice • The last time they achieved that margin in a Six Nations match against Scotland was in March 2007 when they won 46-19 at the Stade de France • Scotland are currently fourth in the standings but could finish second for the first time in the Six Nations era • France will break their record for tries scored in a single Championship if they score four. Their current best is 18 – set in 2006 – and they go into the match with 15 tries • Between 2012-18, France failed to get into double figures for tries scored • Scotland have not won away to France in the Six Nations era – their last win was 36-22 in their Five Nations title-winning year of 1999 • 1926 was the last time Scotland won away to England and France in the same Championship • Scotland were the only team to beat France in the 2020 Six Nations, winning 28-17 after Les Bleus had Mohamed Haouas sent off in the first half • The teams have met five times since the start of 2019 with France leading 3-2 – Scotland had recorded as many wins in their previous 15 tests with Les Bleus • France have won their last nine matches on home soil since a 24-19 loss to Wales in February 2019 • Scotland need three tries to bring up 150 in tests against France (173) 2 Men’s preview – 26-28 March, 2021 • This rearranged match falls on the eve of the 150th anniversary of Scotland’s first international match, against England at Raeburn Place on 27 March, 1871 • France second-row Paul Willemse received a two-match suspension following his red card against Wales • France have made five personnel and two positional changes from the side that denied Wales the Grand Slam last weekend. • Three of the changes are in the pack with Bernard Le Roux and Swan Rebbadj named in the second-row and Anthony Jelonch at blindside flanker • Romain Ntamack will start his first match since October at fly-half with Arthur Vincent coming in at inside centre, prompting Gaël Fickou’s move to the left wing and Damian Penaud’s to the right • Le Roux has nearly a third (46) of the caps (150) in France’s forward pack • Stuart Hogg will draw level with Mike Blair as Scotland’s fifth most-capped player (85 tests) • Scotland have made five changes to the starting line-up, three in the backline with Ali Price and Finn Russell returning at half-back. Chris Harris also starts at centre. • The other changes see George Turner start at hooker in place of two-try hero against Italy David Cherry and Nick Haining replace the injured Matt Fagerson at number eight • Haining will make only his third start for Scotland and first since their defeat of France in March 2020 • Fagerson’s injury means Ryan Wilson comes on to the bench and will win his 50th cap if called upon, becoming Scotland’s seventh World Rugby U20 Championship graduate to reach the milestone • Wilson last played for Scotland against Japan at RWC 2019 • Adam Hastings is named on the replacements bench, having last played for Scotland in the Six Nations 2020 final round against Wales last October • Scotland’s starting line-up boasts 446 caps to France’s 357 3 Men’s preview – 26-28 March, 2021 RUGBY EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP 2021 – 27 MARCH The Rugby Europe Championship across 2021 and 2022 will provide the Europe 1 and Europe 2 qualifiers for Rugby World Cup 2023 in France. Click HERE for more information on the RWC 2023 qualifying process. In the RWC 2019 qualification process a total of 188 matches were played across 994 days with 10,355 points scored by the 71 teams who began with the dream of making it to Japan. The eight who did were Canada, Fiji, Namibia, Russia, Samoa, Tonga, Uruguay and USA. PORTUGAL v SPAIN – CAR RUGBY DO JAMOR, LISBON – KO 15:00 GMT Head to head Played: 37 – Spain leads 25-10 with two draws Points for: Portugal 535 / Spain 794 (avg. score: Portugal 14-21 Spain) Highest score: Portugal 35 (35-19 on 21 March, 2004 / 35-16 on 23 March, 2003) / Spain 50 (50-15 on 22 April, 1995) Biggest winning margin: Portugal 19 (35-16 on 23 March, 2003) / Spain 35 (50-15 on 22 April, 1995) First met: 13 April, 1935 – Spain 6-5 Portugal – Campos das Amoreiras, Lisbon Last met: 7 February, 2021 – Spain 25-11 Portugal – Estadio Nacional Universidad Complutense, Madrid Referee: Ludovic Cayre (France) The match will be streamed live on Rugby Europe TV • Spain and Portugal are both seeking their first win in the Rugby Europe Championship 2021 after each losing to Georgia and Romania.