LOUD AND FEAR

Greg asks Scots fans to turn up volume at Murrayfield and make French freeze

- ANDY NEWPORT

SCOTLAND almost lost their heads as the crazed Cardiff cauldron found its voice last week.

Now Gregor Townsend hopes a manic Murrayfield can have a similar impact on France tomorrow.

Toony’s Dark Blues looked to be sauntering to victory at the Principality Stadium after racing 27-0 up inside 43 minutes.

Instead, they were left desperately clinging on to their first Six Nations triumph in the Welsh capital for 22 years after a collapse in discipline allowed Warren Gatland’s Dragons to storm back with 26 unanswered points.

Townsend knows his side must clean up their act if they’re to stand any chance of backing up last week’s slender success against a Les Bleus team out to respond after their humbling loss to Ireland.

But he insists that the Edinburgh crowd can play a part too. He said: “We need the crowd to make it as hard as possible for the opposition, for them to know they are in foreign territory and it’s cold up north, there is a team of Scotsmen here that want to win.

“You get energy from it, and Wales got energy last week when the crowd sensed there was a chance. The crowd was quieter in the first half and you could hear the Scots… it was the perfect start because we wanted to silence the crowd.