Saint-Andre’s troops travel to Edinburgh on Sunday having only played one game so far after their clash Irelandwas postponed and has been rearranged for March 4.

But, with their first outing a comfortable 30-12 win over Italy in Paris, France laid down an early statement of intent and head coach Saint-Andre has no intentions of allowing complacency in his ranks.

“For us as well, this match could prove to be a turning point. This will be crucial for us and in terms of morale and confidence it is always best to put a string of victories together,” said Saint-Andre. “We can take what we are working on that bit further in both the technical and strategic levels.

“One saw that in the World Cup and then in the Six Nations against England and Wales that Scotland are a team who like to throw the ball around a lot, keep the ball and create a lot of scoring opportunities. Alas for them, they didn’t take them and they were punished for not doing so.”

The Scotland clash will be the first of four games in four weeks the Les Bleus will have to play and Saint-Andre admitted it would be a challenge to keep the players fresh both physically and mentally for the month.

“In terms of the human side it is almost like a World Cup preparation,” he added. “In my role as coach I am going to get to know the players a lot better and also their characters.

“It is vital to work them physically so that there are no ‘not so good’ moments in the four weeks but also to find times where the players can have time to recuperate.

“It will be very good for the level of morale and workload, but it is imperative to find the right balance of preparation, competition and rest.”