On top of the action: Rory Hamilton will provide live updates from Murrayfield here on stv.tv/sport Pic: ©STV
Scotland go into battle with France in their Six Nations curtain-raiser at Murrayfield on Sunday looking to win their first opening match since Les Blues were defeated 20-16 back in 2006. If you can’t make it along to the capital for the game, make sure you don’t miss any of the action by following Rory Hamilton’s live text commentary from 2pm here on stv.tv/sport.
After a promising Autumn Test series, in which Scotland defeated Australia at Murrayfield, Andy Robinson’s squad will be looking to build upon their good form and spark murmurs of a potential Six Nations shock.
Victory over the French would give rise to hopes of a first success in the competition since it was expanded to six teams, with Scotland having won the last Five Nations championship in 1999.
Picked to start this weekend is Glasgow centre Graeme Morrison, who has been forgiven for his disappointing ball-in-hand performances against Fiji and Australia in the Autumn games with a recall to the team after impressing with his club form in recent months.
Morrison, 27, though is determined to justify his Scotland recall by unleashing his full array of attacking skills on the French.
"Having gone back to Glasgow, it's been great for me to get a bit more ball in my hands and run, and show what I could do with it,” he said. "So, I'll be looking to do that on Sunday."
"The form that I've had in the past couple of months has given my confidence a real boost. I'm glad to be back and I'm going to do everything I can to be part of a win."
Scotland have not defeated France since 2006, the last time they won their opening Six Nations game and the last time they recorded more than one championship victory.
Their chances of repeating that result appear to have been boosted by the number of injuries their opponents are carrying ahead of Sunday's game.
But Morrison said: "They've got quality throughout their whole team and they have a certain strength in depth that many countries would be envious of.
"The players that are playing are world class in all their positions."
The game will see Morrison go head to head with the 17-stone Mathieu Bastareaud, one of the most physical centres in world rugby.
"We've got Hugo Southwell in the camp, who plays alongside him, who says he's a very hard man to bring down.”
