Hogg urges Scotland to learn quick from defeat
Magnificent France on song and tuning up for Grand Slam as Scotland are crushed
STUART HOGG last night admitted that Scotland must take a serious look at themselves after a Six Nations thrashing at the hands of France.
The French ran riot at BT Murrayfield, scoring six tries to maintain their charge towards the Grand Slam while also ending any realistic notion the hosts have of challenging for the title.
Gregor Townsend’s side were hit hard by a mixture of injuries and Covid, which denied them the services of key forwards like Jonny Gray, Hamish Watson and Jamie Ritchie.
France were ruthless and clinical in everything they did, putting Scotland to the sword with some magnificent attacking rugby.
Scotland had chances to make a game of it in the first half, before Les Bleus went through the gears to rout their opponents and eventually win at a canter. And Hogg believes that some painful self-reflection may now be required after back-to-back defeats against Wales and the French.
Insisting that Scotland had made it far too easy for France, the skipper said: ‘We need some harsh truths and lessons about where we are as a team. At times, we
THE game was not yet 20 minutes old, but France were already in party mode. Chants of Allez Les Bleus rang out around Murrayfield as pockets of red, white and blue erupted in the stadium.
The visitors had brought a huge travelling support and they were intent on having a good time. The French songbook echoed out into the skies above Edinburgh.
Such was the frequency with which it was sung, Scotland fans probably went home last night humming La Marseillaise.
Because one thing’s for sure. They certainly didn’t have much to shout about when it came to the performance of their own team.
This was a chastening afternoon for Gregor Townsend and his players. Barring a brief flicker in the first half, they were totally outclassed by a French team who remain on course for Grand Slam glory.
Fabien Galthie’s side ran in six tries, two of which came during an early blitz in the opening quarter of an hour. Some of their rugby was simply magnifique.
Scotland, on the other hand, must confront the reality that their championship is over. They now face trips to Rome and Dublin in their final two games. Frankly, neither look overly appetising.
Townsend was without key forwards like Jonny Gray, Jamie Ritchie, Rory Sutherland, Matt Fagerson and Hamish Watson due to a mixture of injury and Covid.
Yet, even if all of them had played, it’s hard to make a case for the result being any different. Scotland simply couldn’t live with France’s flair and accuracy in attack.
Led by their irrepressible scrumhalf and captain Antoine Dupont, the reigning European and World Player of the Year was a class above anything Scotland had to offer. So, too, were Gael Fickou and Damian Penaud, two thunderous, powerful runners in the French backline who plundered three tries between them.
For Scotland, Rory Darge played well on his first start, scoring a try and getting through plenty of work after being drafted in as a late replacement for Covid-hit Watson.
Duhan van der Merwe also showed glimpses of a return to form. But it was never enough. Not even close.
Scotland’s hopes of challenging for the Six Nations title were buried under a barrage of French brilliance.
How the Scots will regret a two-minute period either side of half-time when, firstly, Chris Harris threw an awful pass to ruin what should have been an easy try in the corner.
Then, to compound matters, the French scored twice either side of the break to effectively end the game as a contest.
For France, this was a first Six Nations victory at Murrayfield since 2014. The Grand Slam is now tantalisingly close, with games against Wales and England to come.
Yet, there were signs that there might be some early Gallic nerves. A shaky start began with fly-half Romain Ntamack sending the ball straight into touch from kick-off.
Full-back Melvyn Jaminet then missed what ought to have been a straightforward penalty on seven minutes. But those lapses didn’t last as France found their rhythm barely 60 seconds later.
It was lock Paul Willemse who eventually crashed over to score, but it was Toulouse superstar Dupont who was the architect of their opening try.
Collecting a loose pass from Finn Russell deep inside the French half, Dupont broke with searing pace, scything his way through the Scottish defence.
He raced upfield and had the presence of mind to find his support runners. The ball was worked back inside for Willemse to take the acclaim, but it was a try which had Dupont’s fingerprints all over it.
Jaminet made amends for the missed penalty by knocking over the conversion, before a penalty from Russell (below) got Scotland on to the scoreboard.
If France’s opening score was a beauty, they soon topped it with a strong contender for try of the tournament just five minutes later.
It was a blur of offloads, Champagne rugby at its finest. Winger Yoram Moefana eventually touched down, but the contributions in the build-up were far too numerous to mention.
It was an outstanding try that even some Scotland supporters rose to applaud. Jaminet missed the conversion from out wide, but France were firmly in control with only quarter of an hour played.
Scotland rallied and roused themselves as best they could. Jaminet was penalised for wiping out
Sam Skinner in mid-air, but only after referee Karl Dickson had been guided by the TMO. A chorus of boos rang out around Murrayfield as it looked like Dickson might initially allow play to continue. Truth be told, his decisions were frequently questionable. Scotland managed to build some pressure after opting to take a quick tap penalty inside the French 22. Zander Fagerson thought he had scored. So, too, did Ali Price. The ball was held up, but the referee penalised France for a high tackle on Price right on the try-line.
Given that he was reaching out to try and score, it could have been a penalty try. But it mattered little, as Darge eventually hit a great line to thunder over and score on his first Scotland start. Russell’s conversion brought Scotland to within two points at 12-10. But, from there, they were left choking on French exhaust fumes for the rest of the afternoon.
The game was then effectively ended as a contest in a crucial two-minute period either side of half-time.
Scotland should have scored after a brilliant break from Van der Merwe tore through the heart of the French defence.
The home side had a great attacking platform. They had numbers out wide. All they had to do was allow the ball to do the work and work it through the hands.
Instead, though, Harris made a calamitous decision to throw it long to Stuart Hogg when there was absolutely no need.
Harris had plenty of team-mates closer to him, supporting on the inside. It was desperately poor stuff, compounded by the fact it would have given Scotland the half-time lead.
Just to make matters worse, France then went straight up the other end and scored a try of their own after Fickou went on the rampage to score in the corner.
Jaminet’s conversion was good and instead of potentially leading at the break, Scotland found themselves trailing 19-10.
And any hopes of a comeback were swiftly extinguished within 60 seconds of the restart.
Fickou’s midfield partner Jonathan Danty went over to score in the corner, with Jaminet’s conversion putting the French 26-10 ahead.
That was pretty much that for Scotland. Some of the players stood hands on hips, not quite sure how the game had managed to escape them so quickly.
On the hour mark, Penaud scored in the corner to finish off a swift French counter-attack. France were now running riot.
The big French winger helped himself to another try in the final 10 minutes, before Van der Merwe got a late consolation touchdown for Scotland.
By that time, however, the stands had emptied. Murrayfield was awash with French euphoria. One suspects the party will have lasted long into the night.