Rugby and soccer have always had an uneasy relationship, but it has suddenly become a lot worse in France.

The soccer team were forced to play Scotland in the Parc des Princes on Wednesday because the Stade de France, their usual fortress, was unavailable due to the Rugby World Cup.

France, who won the 1998 World Cup at the Stade, have bad memories of the smaller Paris stadium after missing out on World Cup 94 following a famous defeat to Bulgaria at the Parc (see here for a nice memory jogger).
 
Wednesday’s result may turn out to be just as costly. France went down 1-0 to Scotland in a Euro 2008 qualifier, just as they did in Glasgow in October, to drop from top of Group B to third.

Italy, who drew 0-0 with France at the San Siro on Saturday, are now second in the group after a 2-1 win in Ukraine. Roberto Donadoni, under pressure at home, showed guts by dropping Alessandro Del Piero, Filippo Inzaghi and Daniele De Rossi after poor performances against the French and was rewarded by two goals from largely unheralded Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale.
 
Most other qualifiers ran to form, with Michael Owen scoring two in England’s 3-0 win over Russia to take his international goal tally to 40. England, who beat Israel by the same score on Saturday, have moved up to second in the group following their sudden resurgence under Steve McClaren.

The coach was without Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, David Beckham, Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves and Aaron Lennon and they will all now face a fight to return to the starting lineup.

McClaren risked ridicule by recalling striker Emile Heskey and it paid off. His partnership with Owen, along with Gareth Barry’s emergence in midfield, suggests that picking a team that works together rather than the 11 best players can make all the difference.

And after France rugby coach Bernard Laporte made 13 changes for Sunday’s World Cup match with Namibia, maybe rugby and soccer can learn form each other after all.  
 
Mark Meadows, Milan