Gregor: One of our best ever seasons

SCOTLAND’S Six Nations campaign feels like “one of our best-ever seasons” said head coach Gregor Townsend after they beat France in Paris, their first win there since 1999.

“I am so proud of this team,” Townsend said. “We had an injury to one of our starters on Wednesday, a yellow card, a red card, we had to come back against a very, very good side. We showed courage, effort, togetherness and skill to win.

“It took a lot of knocking on the door and that’s credit to France’s defence but the players found a way. They put a lot of effort into this championship, and even though we finish fourth it feels like one of our best ever seasons with the victories we’ve had this year and the performance tonight.

“That’s now been the last two years where we’ve been competitive in every game. I think we’ve won six of our last ten Six Nations games and the other four would be within a score,” added Townsend. “So the players will take confidence from that.

“We’ve grown a lot this year, we’ve grown a lot in this campaign, and we just have to grow further over the next few years. We won at Twickenham and we won in Paris. Taking opportunities. Knowing when things are against you that you have to stay in control like we did today at times.”

Captain Hogg said: “Results at times have been outstanding, the performance at times have been very good, but we’re probably going to be kicking ourselves with some of the losses.

“We’re not going to get carried away, we’re going to enjoy this moment and start building towards something memorable.

“I’m the captain of a very, very proud nation and we’ll continue to work hard.”

France coach Fabian Galthie suggested that three epic encounters in succession – England, France and then Scotland – had taken its toll:

“It was a permanent boxing fight so obviously everyone was drained. It’s possible the series of matches tired out those resources. It was won on inches. France finished the competition with a very intense experience.”