Kicking not only option available to Scotland

Andy Robinson has refuted suggestions Scotland will resort exclusively to the boot in their quest for a rare RBS 6 Nations away win today.

Robinson's opposite number – Wales coach Warren Gatland – believes Scotland will adopt a foot-first approach spearheaded by recalled Glasgow fly-half Dan Parks.

Scotland have not won in Cardiff since 2002, while three successive Tests without scoring a try following shutouts against Australia, Argentina and France suggest a kicking game is their most obvious victory route.

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Gatland also took a swipe at the Scots for requesting the Millennium Stadium be kept open, claiming they were hoping for wet weather.

But Robinson said: "It's a great stadium, and seeing the blue sky today made it even more impressive.

"I can't control what Warren Gatland says. We are looking forward to the game – I think it is going to be a cracking game of rugby between two very good sides.

"It is not just the fact we are going to play a kicking game; we are going to run the ball and move the ball.

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"It is not just going to be done by kicking. I am very surprised people think that's the only way we are going to do it."

Brian O'Driscoll enters Ireland's showdown with France recalling how a turning point in Irish rugby also had a profound effect on his life.

It is a decade since Ireland last prevailed in Paris, a victory their captain credits for transforming the mindset of the national side.

O'Driscoll, then a little-known 21-year-old, was catapulted to stardom with a scintillating hat-trick that underpinned the 27-25 triumph.

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And while the Stade de France has remained an unhappy hunting ground since, O'Driscoll insists that day in March 2000 was a key moment that laid the ground for a decade of relative success.

"If it did anything positive it changed the mentality of us as a rugby team and rugby nation," said O'Driscoll. "Winning in 2000 was part of the catalyst to how the game for us has changed. It would be silly to say it wasn't. We hadn't won in Paris for so long and it gave us the belief we could win if we played well. It would mean a lot to the guys to win there this year."