BRAVE SCOTLAND PLAYER RATINGS Stirring win ends hope of French Six Nations success
SCOTLAND produced a performance that blended defensive grit and attacking guile to end France’s hopes of a first Grand Slam in a decade. It was a second win in a row following the 17-0 defeat of Italy, and takes Gregor Townsend’s team up to third in the Six Nations table.
Winning in Cardiff on Saturday to ensure a top-half finish will be a tall order, but the squad will travel in an optimistic frame of mind after coolly dismantling their hotheaded visitors. The French, now level on points with England at the top of the table, have to pick themselves up for a home game with Ireland.
France had been more disciplined and pragmatic since Shaun Edwards joined their coaching team, but they fell badly short of their previous standards here. Francois Cros was sinbinned early in the game, and more damagingly, Mohamed Haouas was sent off before half-time for punching Jamie Ritchie in the face. Stand-off Romain Ntamack’s game ended in the first half too after he took a head knock, and although scrum-half Antoine Dupont produced some exquisite touches, there was only so much he could do on his own.
By contrast, the Scots played consistently well throughout. Ritchie was named man of the match and he and backrow colleague Hamish Watson again played a vital role at the breakdown, while Sean Maitland chipped in with two tries and Stuart McInally added a late third. Adam
Hastings added the other points with his boot, while Stuart Hogg’s characteristic selfconfidence galvanised his team.
France had had to make a late change to their bench, bringing Toulouse hooker
Peato Mauvaka in for Camille Chat, who injured himself during the warm-up. That change may not have had disrupted them, but the three others in the first half did: the loss of Cros for a dangerous tackle on Grant Gilchrist, the departure of Ntamack after failing an HIA, and the dismissal of Haouas. Cros seemed unlucky to be singled