Scotland produced a performance full of vigour and persistence at Murrayfield on Sunday, pushing World Cup finalists France all the way but ultimately coming up just short in this their third fixture of the RBS 6 Nations Championship.
Stuart Hogg and Lee Jones both scored first Scotland tries as Andy Robinson’s men found a cutting edge and infused their play with real zip for much of this enthralling encounter in front of a sold-out crowd.
However, France had more than enough threats of their own behind the scrum, and used their mastery of the counter attacking arts to claim a second tournament victory.
Defeat was harsh on a Scotland side who were markedly better in numerous facets of the game than had been the case in the Calcutta Cup match three weeks ago. The search for a first win of the campaign will continue in Dublin on Saturday 10 March (kick-off 5pm).
The Scots spurned a second minute chance to notch the first points of the afternoon, Greig Laidlaw not getting quite enough power behind a long-range penalty awarded for a French offside.
Undeterred, they launched a period of sustained pressure on the visitors' line, which, after a few frustrations, was to pay rich dividends.
Having found no joy in their attempts to probe for space down the left, Scotland swiftly switched the point of attack to the other side, where stand-off Laidlaw took stock of the situation before finding Jones, who in turn fed Hogg powering through on a great line on his shoulder.
The full-back, making his first Test start, crashed over in the corner to the delight of the home crowd, and, unlike two weeks ago in Cardiff, the score didn't require any pondering from the match officials.
Laidlaw converted comfortably to consolidate a bright start from the hosts. (Scotland 7 France 0).
Equally as pleasing as the cutting edge in attack was Scotland's precision in defence, where even the likes of diminuitive winger Jones made hugely assertive contributions. Ross Rennie excelled at the breakdown once again, and effected a great clean strip in the tackle on one memorable occasion.
After all the trials and tribulations of their opening two Championship matches, the Scots visibly grew in confidence from things finally beginning to click.
David Denton and Ross Ford got the crowd going once again with a fabulous interchange that was taken on by their Edinburgh Rugby teammate Allan Jacobsen, prompting the French to go offside and present Laidlaw with a straightforward opportunity to stretch Scotland's advantage. (Scotland 10 France 0).
France had barely existed as an attacking force in the first half hour, but cut through with devastating simplicity to haul themselves back into contention as inside centre Wesley Fofana put the finishing touches to a slick handling move which the scrambling Scottish cover never looked like properly interrupting.
Morgan Parra converted to trim the deficit yet further (Scotland 10 France 7).
Scotland soon suffered a further double blow, this time on the injury front, when Mike Blair (dead leg) and Rory Lamont (leg) were forced from the field simultaneously. Chris Cusiter took over at scrum-half, with Nick De Luca coming on at outside centre, Sean Lamont moving to the wing.
A difficult ending to the half continued when Parra kicked the French level with around 90 seconds remaining. The penalty had been given for Geoff Cross taking down the scrum, an area of the game where the visitors had started to exert a degree of pressure. (Scotland 10 France 10)
Almost immediately, Jacobsen was pulled up for a high tackle, but Parra couldn't do the business from the tee this time.
HALF-TIME: SCOTLAND 10 FRANCE 10
The reprive was to be short lived. Five and a half minutes after the break, with the French having set up camp in the Scottish half without ever truly threatening, Jacobsen went off his feet at the ruck and Parra duly kicked his team into the lead.(Scotland 10 France 13)
Scotland lost another player to injury in the 49th minute, as Laidlaw was forced from the field with a head knock to be replaced by Duncan Weir. It was the Glasgow Warriors pivot's first appearance for Scotland, as he assumed a half-back pairing with clubmate Cusiter.
Weir soon had the chance to kick his first two points in international rugby, on the back of a terrifically clinical score from Robinson's team.
John Barclay won a midfield turnover and broke to his left, passing to De Luca who was part of a three-man overlap. De Luca got the ball away to Richie Vernon, who steadied himself before ceding to Jones. The Selkirk man made it two first Scotland scores for Borders backs in this game, before Weir kicked a nerveless conversion from the left. (Scotland 17 France 13)
Agonisingly for Scotland, France instantly hit back with a devastating move of their own. Breaking from inside their own half, Maxime Medard and Julien Malzieu put together a corruscating combination that sent the winger coasting over the Scottish line. Parra's conversion saw the lead change hands again. (Scotland 17 France 20)
The game was swinging merrily from end to end at this stage. The Murrayfield hordes were on their feet once again to acclaim Hogg as the fearless Hawick product set off on another quicksilver break that featured a couple of outrageous steps. The move foundered on a lack of support, but Scotland's intent was clear.
France continued to look to slow the game at the breakdown, but used the ball carriers in their back row to make insistent dents when they managed to secure serviceable possession in the Scottish half.
With 13 minutes remaining, they took the opportunity to get replacement stand-off Lionel Beauxis into the pocket, and the Toulouse man knocked over a drop goal to nudge the French six points to the good. (Scotland 17 France 23)
And there they stayed, despite Scotland's best efforts to effect one last twist in the tale.
RBS Man of the Match: Ross Rennie (Scotland)
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors); 14 Rory Lamont (Glasgow Warriors), 13 Sean Lamont (Scarlets), 12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), 11 Lee Jones (Edinburgh Rugby); 10 Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby), 9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh Rugby); 1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh Rugby), 2 Ross Ford (CAPTAIN, Edinburgh Rugby), 3 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh Rugby), 4 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors), 5 Jim Hamilton (Gloucester), 6 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), 7 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby), 8 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby)
Substitutes: 16 Scott Lawson (Gloucester) for Ford (69min), 17 Ed Kalman (Glasgow Warriors) for Cross (62min), 18 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors) for Hamilton (69min), 19 Richie Vernon (Sale Sharks) for Denton (53min), 20 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors) for Blair (31min), 21 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) for Laidlaw (49min), 22 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh Rugby) for Rory Lamont (31min)
France: 15 Maxime Medard (Toulouse); 14 Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), 13 Aurelien Rougerie (Clermont Auvergne), 12 Wesley Fofana (Clermont Auvergne), 11 Julien Malzieu (Clermont Auvergne); 10 Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), 9 Morgan Parra (Clermont Auvergne); 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), 3 Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), 4 Pascal Pape (Stade Francais), 5 Yoan Maestri (Toulouse), 6 Thierry Dusautoir (CAPTAIN, Toulouse), 7 Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), 8 Louis Picamoles (Toulouse)
Substitutes: 16 William Servat (Toulouse) for Szarzewski (51min), 17 Vincent Debaty (Clermont Auvergne) for Poux (51min), 18 Lionel Nallet (Racing Metro 92) for Maestri (66min), 19 Julien Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne) for Picamoles (59min), 20 Julien Dupuy (Stade Francais) for Parra (75min), 21 Lionel Beauxis (Toulouse) for Medard (62min), 22 Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Alain Rolland (IRFU), Simon McDowell (IRFU)
Fourth official: Andrew Macpherson (SRU)

This article was posted on 26-Feb-2012, 17:39 by Hugh Barrow.