HARD HITTING VIEW

If Scotland were looking for redemption after the dismal defeat by Wales two weeks ago, they were going to have to perform considerably better than they did in Cardiff.

France, on the other hand, have a Grand Slam in their sights and were not going to slip up as they had before at Murrayfield.

Sadly, Scotland were a mere bump on the visitor’s relentless road to that ultimate prize and there could be no salvation for Gregor Townsend’s men.

France were good in their victory but they weren’t exceptional.

Scotland made it easy for them, firstly by trying to play too much rugby in the opening minutes in a daft field position, then by indiscipline and finally by losing the contact battle and coughing up too much ball to their opponents, who treated such generosity with alacrity.

France scored almost all of their tries from counter attacks, when the Scots had made mistakes. That was not how to defeat a good side who could play.

To be fair, some of the rugby that France played was out of the top drawer.

Any neutral at Murrayfield got full value from their ticket price as the rugby on display was at times, breathtaking and the skills sublime.

There was end-to-end stuff and while it was the French who were brilliant,

Scotland contributed much to the match but in the end, just weren’t good enough to halt the French juggernaut.

Much of the French victory was founded on a relentless defence, which ended up bullying the Scottish attack into submission.

Shaun Edwards has made a real difference to the way that France organise themselves and, while they looked a little shaky at times when Scotland attacked round the fringes of the breakdown, if Scotland spread the ball wide, there were few gaps to see.

France also attacked the tackle relentlessly and won penalties and turnovers in abundance, which was somewhat galling to see.

Worse still, when Scotland did create opportunities, they failed to capitalise on them. Had they scored in the first half, when they were gaining some superiority, it may have just put some doubt in French minds.

But criminally, the Scots conceded a try on the stroke of half-time and then immediately after the break, which virtually finished the match – at least in terms of the result.

On the upside for Scotland, Rory Darge was exceptional and Darcy Graham again looked in fine form. But they needed their senior players to step up and show the edge and grit that winning teams have – it was notably absent.

There is now another weekend off before a trip to the Eternal City, followed by a visit to Dublin.

Perhaps not enough for redemption, but two wins would help restore some credibility.

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When Scotland did create chances, they failed to capitalise