Geoffrey Riddle / 04 February 2010 Free Bet View Market

"If Godman can indeed get his three-quarter line in attacking mode, then Lievremont’s fear that the Scots are the ‘All Blacks of the north’, could well ring true."

Two years ago, influenced by Scotland's unfortunate 18-13 quarter-final defeat to Argentina in the Rugby World Cup, the bookmakers made Frank Hadden's men four to five point underdogs against Marc Lievremont's new-look French side.

There were a lot of punters who took the bait, including myself. I plunged in on Scotland, believing that Lievremont's flimsy young things would have no hope of imposing their fancy Dan running game on a dour Scottish outfit. Wrong. France massacred the home side in front of a disbelieving Murrayfield, racing to a 17-6 half-time lead, before extending that advantage in the second half to finish 27-6 to the good.

Once again, Scotland come into a Six Nations campaign with broad horizons. And new coach Andy Robinson has every reason to feel optimistic going into his first fixture against the French on Sunday. He sits with his hand on the tiller of a side who navigated an historic 9-8 victory over Australia in the autumn. That victory was based on a do-or-die defence, which Robinson has been honing ever since.

The former England flanker has drafted in flying drones from Scottish Hydro, which hover 300m off the ground and relay the defensive lines back to the coaches. There is no hiding place therefore, and Robinson's big hope for this opening encounter is that he levels the playing field against Les Bleus, much like he did against Australia in November, and unsuccessfully a week later in the 9-6 defeat to Argentina.

Robinson knows that if his side can keep out the French, under enormous pressure, old dead-eyed Chris Paterson can kick the points when the opportunities inevitably arise. Paterson's accuracy has reached frightening levels in the Magners League this season, where the Edinburgh man has kicked 40 of his 45 attempts at the posts.

Where Scotland seem to have the edge over recent vintages, however, is that flyhalf Phil Godman presents a running option that the Scots have lacked ever since the mercurial Gregor Townsend pulled the strings. Godman has potent weapons to unleash outside him, too. Max Evans and Graeme Morrison will enjoy running at the centre holes that the French have failed to patch up under Lievremont.

Evans will slash through with his pace and elusive running, while Morrison will relish the confrontation with the hulking recalled centre Mattieu Bastareaud. Off their shoulders will lurk Thom Evans, the Glasgow winger who has notched four tries from nine appearances in the Magners League this season. And if Godman can indeed get his three-quarter line in attacking mode, then Lievremont's fear that the Scots are the 'All Blacks of the north', could well ring true.

France were appalling against New Zealand in the final game of their autumn series. Lievremont has taken evasive action and has made 10 changes to the side that slumped to that slovenly defeat in the Stade Velodrome. But this is where the crux of the game lies. Scotland will start well. They always do. They have opened the scoring at Murrayfield in nine of their last 11 matches since their calamitous 40-0 World Cup defeat to the All Blacks in 2007. Under Lievremont, France have only opened the scoring twice away from home. Scotland may well be leading at half-time, too. But that is where the improvement from Robinson's training will surely end.

When Scotland have led at the break, their record in recent times is not the best. Since 2008, they have had their noses in front seven timees at Murrayfield. They have gone on to win in four of those, but against Fiji, Italy, Canada and England. It's not a stellar cast they have eclipsed, and you'd have to rate this French team alongside South Africa, Ireland and Argentina, the teams who dug deep from a half-time deficit and finished off the Scots at the death.

So for in-running traders that means laying the French until half-time in order to back them at a bigger price. For those who like things a little more stable, it might be worth looking at the half-time/full-time market, getting with Scotland in the first half and France to win the match at around [8.2].

But surely the best bet of the game is to back Scotland to score the first points with a penalty, which at current prices is [2.88]. You'll probably be able to do better than that by Sunday, and you won't have to go through the agonising wait for the French to gel and unleash hell.