The Mayor of Saint Etienne in the Rhone-Alps region of France leads an impressive delegation visiting Murrayfield on Saturday 24 February, for the RBS 6 Nations Scotland v Italy match. The purpose of their visit is to tell the accredited journalists at the match about the town of Saint Etienne and the Rhone-Alps region – the location for two of Scotland’s four pool games in this year’s Rugby World Cup.The Mayor of Saint Etienne in the Rhone-Alps region of France leads an impressive delegation visiting Murrayfield on Saturday 24 February, for the RBS 6 Nations Scotland v Italy match. The purpose of their visit is to tell the accredited journalists at the match about the town of Saint Etienne and the Rhone-Alps region – the location for two of Scotland’s four pool games in this year’s Rugby World Cup. The party from Rhone-Alpes and Saint Etienne tourist offices, plus the Saint Etienne Council, will hold a special reception exclusively for the Scottish and Italian media at Murrayfield. They hope to highlight Saint Etienne and Rhone-Alps’ plans for the Rugby World Cup and describe the welcoming reception awaiting Scottish rugby supporters who plan to follow the fortunes of their national team during the World Cup. Saint Etienne played host to Scotland’s football fans during France 98. The Scots and local French in Saint Etienne got on so well during the Football World Cup, that many Scots settled and married there. Saturday’s visitors to Murrayfield are eagerly anticipating something similar happening this september in Saint Etienne. Scotland’s first and last pool games are in Saint Etienne and Scotland expect their game against the Italians on 29 September will be one of the most important internationals they will play in years. All this, of course, adds spice to this Saturday’s opening encounter between the two rival teams during the Six Nations. Scotland’s other two World Cup pool games take place at Murrayfield against Romania (18 September) and New Zealand. (23 September)