Kenny Logan says Scotland should be full of confidence ahead of France clash

Kenny Logan is adamant Scotland should go into Saturday’s showdown with under-pressure France in bullish mood because they have proved on several occasions they can unsettle Les Bleus on home soil.

The Scots have won five of the last seven meetings between the teams at Murrayfield – and three of the last four Edinburgh clashes in the Six Nations.

Logan, who won 70 caps for Scotland, feels the Scots are perfectly capable of inflicting another defeat on the French, who lost 38-17 at home to Ireland in their Guinness Six Nations opener last Friday.

“Scotland have definitely got a chance of getting a result, all day long,” Logan – speaking to promote Prostate Cancer UK’s Big Golf Race – told the PA news agency.

“They’re at home, the French are under pressure, Scotland have got a game that can take the French on, they beat them in August – albeit in a World Cup warm-up – and they’ve beaten them several times in the last few years, so why would they not be confident?

“Scotland are a strong team so we should be looking at it thinking ‘we’re going to win this match’. They’ve got to have that confidence.”

Logan, 51, played for Scotland in an era when victories over France were rare but he feels Gregor Townsend’s side will benefit from memories of recent successes against this weekend’s opponents.

“It helps mentally when you’ve beaten a team because you get a lot of confidence from that,” he said.

“When they go into the game, they can say ‘right, we’ve beaten them three of the last four times we’ve played them here in the Six Nations’, and they also know they’ve played against their players in Europe and have played against France three times in the last year, so they shouldn’t be scared of them.

“We’re a team who can beat anybody on our day. Anybody.”

Scotland defeated Wales 27-26 in their opener in Cardiff last weekend – but only after almost squandering a 27-0 lead. Logan feels their second-half collapse will help focus minds for the French.

“After last week, when it felt like a defeat and they probably felt like they let themselves down, the team will have been more on edge this week in terms of knowing they’ve got to work hard to get the focus right,” he said.

“I think they just got a little bit carried away last week and their heads went a little bit but overall they will have learned a lot more than if they won by 30 points.

“That game will let them know they’ve got to play for 80 minutes, and keep their focus, which they will have to do against France.”

Kenny Logan was speaking to promote Prostate Cancer UK’s Big Golf Race, which launches on 28 February.