Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SCOTS HAND WALES TITLE
France 23 Scotland 27
WALES were last night crowned Six Nations champions for the 28th time - without kicking a ball.
France’s failure to beat Scotland in Paris meant Wayne Pivac’s unfancied side took the spoils.
Wales had lost seven of their 10 matches in 2020 and came into the championship with nobody giving them a snowball’s chance in hell.
Yet they came within seconds of a Grand Slam in Paris and on the same pitch seven days on watched Scotland do them the mother of all favours.
The Scots had arrived raging at the injustice of a fixture rearranged to their detriment due to Covid-19 breaches in the French camp a month ago.
Their determination to make France pay was clear from the moment Duhan van der Merwe claimed the first of his two tries on 15 minutes.
It was a lucky break for the Scots in as much as referee Wayne Barnes chose not to check with the TMO so missed the double movement for
Van der Merwe’s fourth try of the championship.
And it had the double benefit of frustrating a French side who knew they needed four tries and a 21-point winning margin to take the title.
France did not panic however. They played a pressure game and in the last 10 minutes of the half forced Scotland to accumulate penalties at an industrial rate to preserve their lead.
From one, full-back Brice Dulin went over in the corner, after Van der Merwe missed Damian Penaud, who fed the scoring pass.
Unable to push back the blue wave, the Scots continued to infringe and Stuart Hogg paid the price for his side’s 11th penalty with a yellow card.
France made a mess of the lineout, allowing Scotland to escape into half-time just three points down.
They made amends moments before Hogg’s return, Virimi Vakatawa offloading out of the back door to Penaud for the winger to chip and finish quite brilliantly.
But Scotland, back to 15 men, responded with a Finn Russell penalty and went back upfield to take the lead through a try from super sub Dave Cherry.
But France would not go quietly, with giant lock Swan Rebbadj frantically ploughing over the line from close range to wrestle back the lead.
And when Russell was sent off for a dangerous elbow nine minutes from time, all of Wales had their hearts in their mouths.
But Scotland were brave, with Van der Merwe bagging the late winner, France were frustrated and Wales are champions.
FRANCE - Tries: Dulin, Penaud, Swan Rebbadj. Con: Ntamack. Pens: Ntamack 2.
SCOTLAND - Tries: Van der Merwe 2, Cherry. Cons: Russell 2, Hogg. Pens: Russell 2.