France flourish against flawed Scots
If this match looked close on the scoreboard, on the field it was one-way traffic. Scotland were outclassed and overpowered from the first minute until the dying throes of this one-sided encounter when they inexplicably sprang to life. By then, however, this match was long over.
Had all three of France’s disallowed tries been added to their points tally, it would have been a much fairer representation of their superiority. There was, however, a measure of justice when they finally claimed their fourth try eight minutes into injury time, replacement No8 Gregory Alldritt scoring from a scrum after France spurned several chances to end the game.
For Jacques Brunel and France, two tries in the last four minutes concluded a much-needed win that restores some faith ahead of a trip to Dublin after their humiliating capitulation at Twickenham. Yet in truth France were made to look good by lacklustre Scotland’s extraordinary succession of errors.
For Scotland this horror show lays bare their worrying lack of strength in depth, particularly at fly-half, and suggests the rest of the tournament will be an exercise in damage limitation.
If Finn Russell is still absent for the visit of Wales to Murrayfield and especially for the final day visit to Twickenham, the rest of their season has the potential to get unspeakably ugly.
For coach Gregor Townsend, Scotland’s slow start was the genesis of their problems and once France got a head of steam the visitors were unable to work their way back into the game.
“We started poorly for the first 20 minutes which after France’s recent results gave them confidence,” said Townsend. “Through our own errors we put ourselves on the back foot.
“We didn’t finish off the opportunities we created, and then we lost a try after half-time which again gave France more confidence and points and we didn’t come back from that after it.
“Our inability to score tries is disappointing. Failing to capitalise on opportunities and not being clinical will be one of the areas we will have to work on ahead of the next game against Wales. When we are accurate we win games and when we aren’t we lose.”
Scotland have not won in Paris since 1999, and at no point yesterday was there even the faintest hint of that losing run coming to an end. Up front they were smashed by France’s big men, struggled to win their own line-out ball, and conceded two tries and a kickable penalty from their scrum.
In the backs things were just as bad. France’s decision not to overcommit to the breakdown meant every time Greig Laidlaw got the ball he was looking at a wall of white-shirted defenders, and with Peter Horne enduring a dismal first half in the No10 jersey, they struggled to make any headway against their hosts’ aggression and line-speed in defence.
Under pressure and often receiving the ball when static, none of Scotland’s backs will look back with any affection on their performance in Paris.
For Horne, however, the Stade de France was so hellish it would be no surprise if his third Test start at fly-half was his last. His 43-minute tenure at stand-off was unremittingly miserable, with the low point coming when he was levelled by French skipper Guilhem Guirado with a sledgehammer tackle that shook bones in the stands.
Things started going awry almost from the kick-off, with the visitors’ errors and lack of energy allowing France to immediately pin them back into their own 22, where they seemed to spend a dangerous amount of the match.
Indeed, it wasn’t until 15 minutes into the second half when the Scots launched their first really meaningful attack, Sean Maitland being dragged down by Gael Fickou just feet short after a smart break.
Before that, it was all France. They looked as if they had got off the mark early on when Nick Grigg spilled the ball on halfway and France ran it back, Damian Penaud looking as if he had scored in the corner until he was called back for a knock-on by scrum-half Antoine Dupont moments before.
When France did score, however, it was a try of rare Gallic beauty from Romain Ntamack and worthy of any scored by his legendary father Emile.
Thomas Ramos was the catalyst, the fullback evading two tackles as he ran out of his 22 before feeding Penaud, who took off up the touchline before cutting infield and supplying Antoine Dupont. Nick Grigg scythed down the little scrum-half but Ntamack was on hand to go over for a glorious score
Ramos and Laidlaw both kicked and missed penalties while a Fickou try being disallowed for a knock-on meant it was 10-3 at half-time, a pitiful return for France’s dominance. But as soon as the match restarted, France struck quick and hard, effectively sealing the win.
The unlikely creative genius this time was Mathieu Bastareuad, the chunky centre dinking a delicate chip over Scotland’s defensive line and then reclaiming the ball which then passed through the hands of Louis Picamoles, Fickou and Dupont until Yoann Huget stepped inside Blair Kinghorn to make it 15-3.
Scotland looked like a far more potent attacking threat after Adam Hastings took over at stand-off on 43 minutes, but by then it was too late.
They had a near miss when another Fickou try was disallowed but when Alldritt touched down with four minutes to go after France’s scrum shunted Scotland backwards, it sparked a late frenzy of activity.
First Ali Price replied for Scotland after a nice break from Horne, now playing at 12. Then, eight minutes into extra time, France’s persistence paid off when Alldritt got the bonus point fourth try, once again from a scrum. It was no less than they deserved.