France boss Fabien Galthie criticises Murrayfield conditions ahead of Six Nations clash with Scotland - 'Referees' dressing room is bigger than ours'

France head coach Fabien Galthie has taken aim at the Murrayfield conditions ahead of their massive Six Nations clash with Scotland on Saturday, March 7. The game in Edinburgh could decide the championship with France requiring a bonus-point win to seal the title with one round to spare. A home win, meanwhile, would boost Scotland's chances of securing glory for the first time since 1999.

France head coach Fabien Galthie has taken a swipe at the Murrayfield conditions ahead of his side’s monster Six Nations clash with Scotland this weekend.

France need only a bonus-point win to seal the championship, but will face off against a buoyant Scotland that recovered well from their opening round defeat to Italy to beat England and Wales.

The hosts sit on 11 points in second place, four off France, who have won all three matches having breezed past Ireland, Wales and Italy to keep their Grand Slam bid on track.

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France would have to lift an identical exhibition replica trophy at Murrayfield should they successfully defend their crown after the Six Nations trophy suffered irreparable fire damage in a transit incident.

Gregor Townsend’s side need to maximise home advantage in order to head into the final set of matches later in March with the championship still in play.

And Scotland will hope the Murrayfield conditions will work in their favour as they seek to win the Six Nations for the first time since 1999.

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Galthie has since criticised the 67,144 capacity stadium’s facilities, admitting that his players will be forced to "change in the corridors".

"The changing room is, in my opinion, the smallest in the world. It forces us to change in the corridors, for an international match. We have to call a spade a spade," Galthie said on Thursday.

The 56-year-old accused Scottish Rugby bosses of refusing France's request to grant them extra room ahead of the huge game.

"We regularly ask them (the Scots) to give us the next room over, which is available and is the other part of the dressing room... well, we don't have it," Galthie continued.

"The referees' dressing room is bigger than ours. It sets the tone, we know what we're getting into as soon as we arrive at the stadium."

France 'know what to expect' from Scotland

Galthie admits that his France team "know what to expect" from this Scotland side, one that he believes "can win the tournament".

"Scotland is an opponent we know well, one we play every year (in the Six Nations) and in World Cup warm-up matches for some time now," he said.

"We know that defeat is possible. It's already happened to us there, in 2020 for example (a 28-17 loss on March 8). The players know what to expect on Saturday."

Galthie named his France squad on Thursday, and opted for the same XV that started the 36-14 win over Ireland on matchday one of the Six Nations.

Thomas Ramos and Matthieu Jalibert, the latter a last-minute withdrawal in the 33-8 win over Italy, both return to the team.

Scotland boss Townsend, meanwhile, has made five changes to his side as he looks to oversee a third successive Six Nations victory.

Townsend has named a fresh front row for the weekend’s clash, with loosehead prop Pierre Schoeman and hooker George Turner both coming into the XV.

Tighthead prop D'arcy Rae will also make his first appearance in this year’s championship, while Jack Dempsey has recovered from a bicep injury sustained in the 31-20 Valentine’s Day win over England and returns to the No. 8 position.

Scotland XV to face France

Scotland: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (capt), Kyle Steyn; Finn Russell, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, D'Arcy Rae, Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.

Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Freddy Douglas, Josh Bayliss, George Horne, Tom Jordan.

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