When France play like this, they are up there with the All Blacks
TOWNSEND HAILS LES BLEUS’ MURRAYFIELD MASTERPIECE
FOR all that Scotland might curse their own errors, it was hard not to marvel at some of the rugby France played yesterday. Sometimes, it’s only right to acknowledge class when you see it.
Perhaps it’s like any golfer who has ever been buried under a barrage of birdies from Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods.
Or any racing driver who has ever been left choking on exhaust fumes as Lewis Hamilton or Michael Schumacher disappear off into the distance.
They will know the feeling that Scotland endured yesterday at BT Murrayfield. Even if the hosts had a fully-fit squad from which to select, there is no guarantee the outcome would have been any different.
When France are in this sort of mood, there are few teams who can live with them. That is not to be used as an excuse for Scotland, just a reflection of the quality they were up against.
Fabien Galthie’s side are pursuing
a Grand Slam and, on the
This could be the prelude to World Cup glory on home soil next year
evidence of what they produced in Edinburgh yesterday, only a fool would bet against them.
That could well be the prelude to World Cup glory on home soil next year. On this form, who can stop them? The All Blacks?
France have already beaten New Zealand in the autumn of last year — a team who Gregor Townsend believes they can rival when they play like this.
France are currently second favourites behind New Zealand to lift the Webb Ellis Cup, but those odds will shorten if they continue in this brilliant form.
It was champagne rugby, all right. Or was it All Black magic? Truthfully, had New Zealand played as well as France did yesterday, the rugby world would have been salivating. Their counter-attacks, in particular, were lethal. Clinical and incisive, they destroyed Scotland any time the hosts coughed up possession.
‘There is a massive tradition in French rugby for in unstructured situations,’ said Townsend after his team’s heavy defeat.
‘It’s where they flourish and thrive, probably going back to Pierre Villepreux’s methods of coaching and teams like Toulouse and others. In France, the players react to space and different defensive pictures that they get. They do it really well.
‘And turnover ball is the best ball you can get. The French are probably up there with the All Blacks at being the best at exploiting that.
‘I feel that their front five really adds to it as well. It’s not just relying on the backs or the back row to make the most of that ball.
‘If you’ve got a front five who can pass and make breaks themselves, it means you’ve got a real XV who can attack. We lost, they scored more points than us, they won more moments than us in the game and we didn’t put them under enough pressure for the 80 minutes.
‘We put ourselves under pressure at times and obviously France put us under pressure with their turnover ball in particular.
‘France showed what a good team they are. Their backline is strong, their scrum-half is a very good player who gives them good ball.
‘But the thing which stands out is their front five. Their ability to carry and keep the ball. They were very clinical close to the tryline.’
Any chance Scotland had effectively hinged on a two-minute period either side of half-time. They made a hash of what ought to have been a simple try in the corner.
France, meanwhile, scored twice in quickfire fashion — once on the cusp of half-time, the other just moments after the restart.
Momentum can be a huge thing in sport. From that moment on, it was hard not to feel that the game was gone for Townsend’s team.
Suddenly, a trip to Rome in a fortnight looks awkward. On the basis of what Scotland have produced against Wales and France, there can be no guarantee they will beat Italy.
With Ireland in Dublin awaiting them on the final day, two wins looks like it might be the best Scotland can hope for realistically in this year’s Six Nations.
In other words, they are back among the also-rans after looking like they had made such strides in last year’s Championship.
‘It was hard for the players, in particular the try just after halftime,’ added Townsend (inset, above). ‘It was disappointing not to have gone ahead when we had a couple of opportunities before half-time.
‘So it was even more disappointing and frustrating that we conceded from a line-out on the halfway line and conceded seven points.
‘We discussed a lot at half-time and that French try came from an attack around the 22 when we had the ball, so you can class it as a breakaway try. That must have been a blow for the players on the field.
‘I think we would all like to play France tomorrow and get another opportunity to put things right.
‘Italy will be a different game, a different opponent and we’ll have a different team I would imagine, depending on who’s available for us in two weeks’ time. When you’ve got a two-week gap in the Six Nations, like we’ve had in the last two games, and it’s on the back of a defeat, you feel very frustrated that you can’t get back out there and show who we are as a team for 80 minutes.’
Refusing to make any excuses for the injuries and Covid-related absences in the squad, Townsend said: ‘No, because Nick Haining and Rory Darge were both very good.
‘The team showed their adaptability in that first-half and they played some really good rugby at times.’