Diolch i’r Alban!*
Scotland stun France to hand Six Nations title to Wales *That’s Welsh for ‘Thanks, Scotland!’
Ecstatic Wales coach Wayne Pivac hailed his side’s Six Nations triumph last night – courtesy of Scotland’s thrilling 27-23 victory away to France – and said it made up for the crushing disappointment of the narrow defeat in Paris last weekend.
Pivac’s men will receive the Six Nations trophy this afternoon after Duhan van der Merwe’s late try for Scotland meant that the Welsh won their second championship in three years, although they missed out on the Grand Slam because of their 32-30 loss to France.
“We’re over the moon and very, very happy to have won the championship,” said Pivac, “it’s just a shame we couldn’t have done it as a group last week.
“We don’t want to talk too much about that but we felt we had done quite a bit in that game to have won it. It wasn’t to be, but it certainly doesn’t take anything away from the fact that a lot of hard work has been done and we’ve won the tournament.
“The Scotland win reminded me a lot of our game against France, with cards and people coming and going. It had everything.”
Given that Wales finished in fifth place in last year’s Six Nations and won only three Test matches in the whole of 2020, their triumph this year caps off a remarkable turnaround for Pivac’s side.
“We’re happy with how things are going in our camp and we’ve built nicely through the competition,” he added. “It’s been a great period for Scotland coach Gregor Townsend since the World Cup – I’d like to congratulate him on that performance which has helped us.”
France 23
Scotland 27
In the week the British and Irish Lions confirmed their tour to South Africa would go ahead as planned, it was only appropriate that a stunning victory by Scotland over France in Paris last night handed the Guinness Six Nations title to Wales in another show of home-nation cooperation.
Just a week after Wayne Pivac’s side were dramatically denied a Grand Slam in Paris by an injurytime try, this time it was France’s turn to suffer the last-gasp disappointment, as Duhan van der Merwe crashed over from short range for his second try to seal a first Scotland victory in Paris since 1999.
It was a climax that will have further bolstered Warren Gatland’s hopes of assembling a squad capable of taking on the world champions in South Africa this summer, despite England’s slump.
France had gone into the game needing to win by 21 and score four tries to snatch the title from Wales but never came close, even though Scotland had to play the final 10 minutes with 14 men after Finn Russell was sent off for a fend that caught the throat of Brice Dulin.
France’s title ambitions translated into curious tactics, particularly in the first half. While Fabien Galthie’s side attempted to move a lot of ball from depth despite the inclement conditions, when they did win penalties from their powerhouse scrum, surprisingly Romain Ntamack opted for the posts instead of kicking to the corner in the pursuit of tries.
It made no sense. Scotland were never going to be bullied by scoreboard pressure, given there was nothing but a second-place finish on the line.
France should have set a more adventurous tempo from the outset, when Van der Merwe was forced to concede a five-metre scrum over his goal line, with Ntamack instead opting for goal when his pack won a subsequent penalty.
Instead Scotland had all the courage, with hooker George Turner leading the way with two carries that forced France on to the back foot, before Van der Merwe drove to the line for the first try. It looked a double movement as he grounded the ball, but the try was given.
A knock-on by Dulin from the restart gave Scotland a chance to build the pressure again, and after Russell kicked twice Dulin got isolated trying to run the ball out of his 22, and Jamie Ritchie gobbled him up, allowing Russell to land the penalty to extend the lead to seven.
A second penalty by Ntamack at least cut the deficit after a Scotland scrum was overwhelmed – but France needed tries. Their first finally came five minutes before the break when from a double-shunt from a French scrum in front of the posts after a sustained period of pressure, the move to the right exposed the Scottish defence with a wide pass from Antoine Dupont to Damian Penaud, who pulled Van der Merwe to the touchline but the wing was able to slip the ball inside for Dulin to score.
And there was more drama to come just before the interval, when Stuart Hogg was shown a yellow card after a succession of penalties by Scotland (11 in total in the first half), allowing France one last attempt for a try. But the line-out was lost and Van der Merwe was able to kick the ball dead. It felt like a massive moment in the contest.
The key for France was to exploit their extra man before Hogg returned and they managed to so with elan, as Dulin tapped a mark and counter-attacked, finding Ntamack, and after the support arrived Virimi Vakatawa carried before delivering a sumptuous offload to Penaud, who chipped ahead and won the race to the line for one of the tries of the championship.
But when France were caught offside after drives by Sam Johnson, Watson and Zander Fagerson, Russell landed the penalty to keep Scotland’s hopes alive.
A sharp incision by Johnson from a short delayed pass by Ali Price then established the momentum for Scotland to strike again. Several penalties followed, with Scotland kicking to the corner each time, and their ambition was rewarded as Dave Cherry darted over from a driving maul to score their second try on the hour mark. It all but ended France’s title hopes and Russell’s conversion put Scotland in front.
A try by Swan Rebbadj from close range restored France’s lead but it was all too late for the hosts.
The red card for Russell came when he looked to fend but caught Dulin in the throat with his elbow as Scotland tried to attack from another line-out penalty. But Gregor Townsend’s side continued to press for the victory.
When Baptiste Serin was sent to the sin bin after another penalty, it ensured that the numbers were level for the final minutes. Scotland desperately drove on for the victory, winning a penalty in added time for one last line-out that led to the dramatic try after 21 phases, with Van der Merwe scoring in the corner to seal the historic victory.
Scores 3-0 Ntamack pen, 3-5 Van der Merwe try, 3-7 Russell con, 3-10 Russell pen, 6-10 Ntamack pen, 11-10 Dulin try, 13-10 Ntamack con, 18-10 Penaud try, 18-13 Russell pen, 18-18 Cherry try, 18-20 Russell con, 23-20 Rebbadj try, 23-25 Van der Merwe try, 23-27 Hastings con.
France B Dulin; D Penaud, V Vakatawa (T Thomas 59), A Vincent, G Fickou; R Ntamack, A Dupont (B Serin 70); C Baille (J-B Gros 55), J Marchand (C Chat 55), M Haouas (U Atonio 60), B le Roux (R Taofifenua 49), S Rebbadj, A Jelonch (D Cretin 62), C Ollivon, G Alldritt.
Replacement A Bouthier.
Scotland S Hogg; D Graham (H Jones 66), C Harris, S Johnson (A Hastings 72), D van der Merwe; F Russell, A Price; R Sutherland (O Kebble 48), G Turner (D Cherry 58), Z Fagerson, S Skinner (A Craig 75), G Gilchrist, J Ritchie, H Watson, N Haining (R Wilson 66). Replacements S Berghan, S Steele. Red card F Russell.
Referee Wayne Barnes (England).