Six Nations (F): Berthoumieu in place of Escudero, the only change for the Blues to face Scotland

Axelle Berthoumieu in place of Charlotte Escudero in the third row: the management of the French women's XV made only one change on Thursday among the starters lined up on Saturday (3:15 p.m.) in Edinburgh against Scotland, during the second day of the Six Nations Tournament. Escudero therefore slides onto the bench, in place of Stade Toulouse second row Kiara Zago, who was among the substitutes during the victory against Ireland (38-17), counting for the first day.

Escudero, who can also cover the second line position, therefore slides onto the bench, in place of Stade Toulouse player Kiara Zago, who was among the substitutes during the victory against Ireland (38-17), counting for the first day.

“It is important for us to capitalize on the experience of player associations,” explained Blue co-selector David Ortiz at a press conference. “It’s a question of balance, between launching young players and maintaining sufficient experience capital.”

Another change among the “finishers”: the arrival in place of Elisa Riffonneau of a returner, the hooker Manon Bigot (Blagnac, 33 years old, 5 sel.), who took a break from her playing career between 2018 and 2023 to become a professional firefighter.

Asked about her, Ortiz spoke of “a player with a very earthy style of play, who excels on the ground phases and whose atypical background and experience struck us”. The rest of the victorious team at Le Mans last Saturday will therefore be lined up again in Edinburgh against the XV du Chardon, who for their part won in Cardiff against Wales (20-18).

“We are expecting a highly charged team for its first home match, which will impose a tough first twenty minutes on us and which we will have to respond to aggressively,” underlined co-selector Gaëlle Mignot, before specifying that the Bleues are were trained to play on artificial pitches, as will be the case on Saturday in Edinburgh. With the exception of Escudero in N.6, the front pack, very efficient against Ireland, was thus entirely renewed, as was the hinge, made up of fly-half Lina Queyroi (100% success against the poles) and scrum half Pauline Bourdon Sansus, superactive at Le Mans.

Montpellier's third center line Romane Ménager, injured in an ankle in training on Tuesday, is well included in the starting XV: "we took her out as a precaution but since the day of rest has done good and there are zero concern about her,” said David Ortiz. The young winger Kelly Arbey (Stade Toulousain, 18 years old), who almost gave herself a trial last Saturday to honor her first selection, before seeing it refused, is again the starter. After this meeting, the Blues will have a week of rest before playing the third day of the competition, on April 14 against Italy, at the Jean-Bouin stadium in Paris.

Composition of France against Scotland: Boulard - Arbey, Kondé, Vernier, M. Ménager - (o) Queyroi, (m) Bourdon Sansus - Hermet, R. Ménager, Berthoumieu - Fall, Feleu (cap.) - Khalfaoui , Sochat, Deshaye

Substitutes: Bigot, Mwayembe, Joyeux, Escudero, Gros, Chambon, Tuy, Bourgeois.

SEE ALSO - Behind the scenes of the Blues' victory against Chile (3-2)