Six Nations: Scotland v France - are Scotland facing the best team in the world?

Scotland won in France for the first time since 1999 last year

The only team left standing in the hunt for a Grand Slam. The team on everyone's lips. The team that has come thundering out of the rugby doldrums to make itself Six Nations favourites.

With their compelling blend of brain and brawn, flair and flagellation, they battered the mighty All Blacks in the autumn and put Ireland to the sword in Paris a fortnight ago.

It is a startling revolution since 2019 and a near-decade of grim failure, and it could culminate in a first championship in a dozen years. Scotland's task is to derail the juggernaut.

The beauty and the blitz

France have assembled a wonderful coaching ticket, headed by former captain and scrum-half Fabien Galthie.

Renowned as a brilliant tactician, Galthie's abrasiveness was not always suited to the rigours of the club game, but he has soared on the international stage. His ingenuity in creating plays and cleaving open defences has helped France earn famous victories.

Galthie is a long-time admirer of Shaun Edwards, widely regarded as the best defence coach in the game, and hiring the Englishman has been a fabulous capture.

Edwards employs his trademark blitz defence where massive athletes - such as 145kg prop Uini Atonio and 126kg lock Paul Willemse - rush up to obliterate attackers, and jackaling backs Gael Fickou and Gabin Villiere burgle ball.

France have been made fitter and more dynamic by Thibault Giroud, their strength and conditioning specialist, and the festering civil war between clubs and the national federation has largely been quelled by former coach Bernard Laporte since he was appointed FFR president.

Deadly Dupont

The headline star in France's posse of heavyweights is Antoine Dupont, the world player of the year and rugby's brightest shining talent. The 25-year-old scrum-half has already been touted as the greatest French player of all time.

There is no obvious deficiency in his game: he is a devilish runner, brutally tough in contact, canny kicker and slick distributor. Rugby intelligence wafts off him.

As well as Dupont, France have a generation of players who won back-to-back Under-20 World Cups in 2018 and 2019, one of them Dupont's brilliant half-back partner, Romain Ntamack.

They boast immense depth in every position, players at the peak of their powers, and their sustained success has re-energised a disaffected rugby public and sold out Stade de France over and over.

France plays host to next year's Rugby World Cup, and having twice clinched the age-grade version, Les Bleus are lusting to win the real thing.

Scottish comforts

Scotland were pretty abject in losing to Wales two weeks ago, ceding the momentum and positivity gained by their Calcutta Cup triumph on the opening weekend. But their record against Galthie's France is pretty good.

They beat them in the Six Nations two years ago, when Mohamed Haouas was sent off for attempting to rearrange Jamie Ritchie's facial features with a crashing right hook.

They won in Paris last March too, a pulsating contest that ended their 22-year drought for victory on French soil.

In between those, there was an Autumn Nations Series defeat at Murrayfield where Gregor Townsend's side were heavily overpowered.

Scotland must be at their best to avoid a similar outcome on Saturday.