Allez les Rouges as France wear red against Scotland

France, whose usual blue shirt is one of the most iconic in rugby, had a brief flirtation with red shirts in 1958 and 1959 against Australia and Scotland respectively, winning both games, though their usual change strip is white.

"It is one of the colours of our flag," Emmanuelle Gaye, a spokesperson for Adidas told French daily Le Figaro, who published a picture of centre Wesley Fofana wearing the shirt with blue shorts and red socks on Thursday.

"I immediately thought we would be privileged to play with this shirt," Fofana told Le Figaro.

Eurosport France ran an online poll to see what fans thought of the new shirt - with 55% saying they disliked it.

Given what a big break in tradition it is, that number seems surprisingly low.

Then again, with the French side having come fourth in the last Six Nations and dead last in the 2013 edition, perhaps the rugby-loving French public are simply desperate to try anything that might help the team get back to winning ways.