Brunel: I knew Romain was up to the task

FRANCE head coach Jacques Brunel was full of praise for his teenage flyhalf Romain Ntamack after the impressive victory over Scotland.

Ntamack, who usually plays centre for Toulouse, shone at fly-half as he inspired France to victory.

The 19-year-old son of former France wing Emile Ntamack delighted the packed Stade de France with clever chips as he showed the vision to lead the team after his inclusion at No.10 ahead of Camille Lopez had raised a few eyebrows.

“It was a very satisfying performance,” Brunel said of Ntamack, who had only started three club games at fly-half this season.

“It was not easy because Scotland made it complicated with a tough defence but he was helped by the work of our forwards.”

Brunel omitted Morgan Parra and Lopez after both criticised the team’s management following their humbling 44-8 defeat in England.

Ntamack played alongside scrum-half Antoine Dupont, his 22-year-old Toulouse team mate, and the pair produced a promising performance in the absence of the more experienced duo.

“I knew he and the youngsters were up to the task,” said Brunel. “Romain was good at playmaking.”

Deflated Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said his side failed to deliver the performance the “navy blue jersey should demand” as their 20-year wait for a victory on French soil continues.

“What’s really disappointing is that we didn’t put on our best performance today,” Townsend said.

“That navy blue jersey should demand of you a much better performance and we have to have that in the Six Nations because the teams are so good.

“We’ll focus on ourselves and look at areas where we obviously underperformed. But France played well today. They’re a dangerous side. The quality of the teams we play against mean that if we don’t bring our best game we are going to lose.”