France finally find their rhythm as Scots suffer second defeat
AFTER all the jibes over the Twickenham surrender and the Welsh throwaway the previous week, France finally joined the Six Nations yesterday at the third time of asking.
As if to remind the country at large that their opening defeats were too bad to be true, Les Bleus reacted to a fortnight’s public ridicule by treating the faithful to four tries and creating enough mayhem for the TMO to disallow four more.
From that it would be fair to deduce that they eventually managed to squeeze the maximum fivepoint return out of a depleted opponents who will probably be at a loss to explain how they avoided losing by a still wider margin.
Even in making full allowance for a casualty list headed by Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell, the Scots finished up nursing the grim reality of a Championship that promised so much only to disintegrate into successive defeats without a point to show for either.
The occasion offered a golden promise in the Parisian sunshine, the 20th anniversary of the last Scottish victory on French soil, not any old win but the one which proved enough to win the last Five Nations, thanks largely to Welsh connivance in ambushing the English chariot at Wembley 24 hours later.
Instead they got nothing but another example that the Scots are still suffering from their perennial affliction to win away from Murrayfield.
The chronic nature of their travel sickness can be measured by figures still more alarming than the scoreline. In 49 away fixtures since the Five became Six in 2000, Scotland have won a mere seven – six in Rome, the other in Cardiff – 17 years ago.
They never looked like winning this one despite some unwitting help, like Yoann Huget’s ten minutes in the bin which passed with Greig Laidlaw’s team unable to take any advantage.
It all made a bit of a mockery of the captain’s pre-match rallying call. “We’re sick of talking about having opportunities to win,’’ Laidlaw said. “It’s up to us now to take the step and win away from home.’’
Their next destination, Twickenham on March 16, hardly suggests that the away run will end any time soon. With Wales due at Murrayfield before then, a third straight defeat would plunge them back into wooden spoon territory.
France, grateful for any small mercy after their shockers against Wales and England, have averted the doomsday scenario of finishing the tournament in Rome with a loser-take-all decider against the pointless Italians.
It would be absurd to interpret one win as proof that the long-awaited French renaissance is under way but there were flashes of brilliance and a try which Serge Blanco, Philippe Sella and Pierre Berbizier would have been proud to call their own.
Peter Horne’s kick deep into the French 22 gave Thomas Ramos the chance to set off on a swerving high-speed run. By the time he sent Damian Penaud haring down the right touchline Scotland had been thrown into such disarray that it took a last-ditch tackle from the tireless Nick Grigg to deny Antoine Dupont a spectacular finish.
And who should be first to the break-down to supply the scoring pass but Ramos. It enabled Romain Ntamack to mark his debut at fly-half with a try, the first in the Championship by a 19-year-old since Stuart Hogg in the same fixture at Murrayfield in 2012.
For once there was never the slightest danger of France coming apart at the seams for the third time in a row. In pelting rain against Wales three weeks earlier, they reached half-time 16 points clear only to throw it all away. They got to the same stage in bright sunshine yesterday with a seven-point advantage when it could easily have been 27. Back in the day before they invented the TMO, it probably would have been.
A double intervention by the Man in the Van cost France one try in the sixth minute and another on the half-hour, a double knockon that at least saved the Scots from a demoralisingly early knock-out.
The first required forensic examination in and around a ruck for evidence of Dupont’s fumble before the scrum-half’s pass sent Penaud hurtling in at the corner. Scotland’s second reprieve, for a similar offence by Wenceslas Lauret, meant that a real work of art counted for nothing.
Gael Fickou read Ntamack’s delicious chip so perfectly that he caught it without needing to check his stride and touched down before the Scots knew what had happened. Fortunately for them, Lauret’s fumble at the previous point of contact made it irrelevant.
If Ramos’ fluffing of a close-range penalty offered Scotland renewed hope, it vanished two minutes into
the second half, Huget finishing off another dazzling move involving forwards and backs.
To their credit, Scotland responded with a series of long-range strikes. Sean Maitland made the first, a searing run which would have brought him the solo try of the tournament but for Fickou’s tackle.
Adam Hastings, a second half substitute for Sam Johnson, followed suit in between two more disallowed French tries. Another member of the supporting cast, Ali Price, ensured Scotland got some reward with a late try which raised fleeting hope of stealing a bonus point.
Instead, France ensured they got theirs thanks to another substitute. None had a greater impact than Gregory Alldritt, sent on for Louis Picamoles with eleven minutes left on the clock.
He scored twice from close-range, the second during the eighth minute of red-clock time when the TMO, the over-worked Rowan Kitt, ruled in his favour.
Ireland in Dublin in a fortnight’s time will go some way towards determining whether this is a one-off or the start of something big.