SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY REPORTS
IAIN MORRISON
FRANK Hadden is in the habit of making a few opening remarks at the beginning of every press conference. It may be that the Scotland coach is attempting to set the agenda for the assembled scribblers, or maybe he just likes to get a few things off his chest,

Yesterday he was gracious enough to admit that the better team won, although he couldn't resist adding that "I thought that some of the French scores were a little fortunate." When you manage six of them, I suppose lady luck might pop into the equation somewhere. In truth, the home team probably squandered another couple of opportunities, not least when Yannick Jauzion dropped the ball with an overlap begging, a turnover Scotland used to good effect for Sean Lamont's try.

"Just before we started the Six Nations," Hadden continued, "we had 14 injuries to players that we would have liked to select from. Everyone thought we were in disarray, that we would struggle to mount any form of competitive opposition in the Six Nations, and ultimately, we came here today very disappointed we weren't going for the championship. We should have won those two home games and been in a position where it should have been between us and France today."

Hadden's optimistic outlook is commendable but once again it is at odds with harsh reality. Hadden claims that the Scots should have won their last two home games when "could" is nearer the mark and they certainly didn't deserve either. Fourteen also seems an awfully high estimate of those sidelined by injury two months ago who had a reasonable chance of appearing on the pitch, unless Jason White is worth half a dozen on his own. Several of those walking wounded had recovered sufficiently to participate in yesterday's final round.

But Hadden went on to make another even more bizarre claim when the coach reasoned that his side had done well to lose by 27 points in Paris because: "We had, on the face of it, relatively little to play for".

Admittedly, the visitors scored three tries and the French did have a much-coveted Six Nations championship at stake but, call me old fashioned, the Scots were hardly taking part in a gash game at the fag-end of the season. The World Cup is a matter of months away. The Six Nations is the shop window of Northern Hemisphere rugby. It is followed by countless and Scotland were in danger of finishing last had Wales beaten England in Cardiff.

Oh yes, so they did. Yesterday's defeat in Paris ensured the Scots ended up bottom of the Six Nations pile in Hadden's second season. There are good reasons for this but having little to play for isn't one of them.

Raphael Ibanez was presented the Six Nations trophy in front of approximately six people who were still left inside the Stade de France several hours after no-side but, that oddity apart, the French were making a lot more sense. The skipper made it clear that the championship win was hugely important to his squad, this year above all. When he was asked about his feelings after Euan Murray's late score almost dashed his dreams, the veteran hooker's reply tested his knowledge of colloquial English to the full.

"If you want to know what I was feeling, just look at a video," he said after the match. "&$%*, %*&$, how do you say? I don't know. I fell to my knees. It was Imanol Harinordoquy who came up and patted me on the back and said 'come on, we've got a kick-off to win'. When you have guys like that in the side you know you always have a chance."

Bernard Laporte's men remain second favourites for the World Cup behind the all-conquering All Blacks, but if New Zealand do slip up again, there is no doubt that yesterday's experience would have bound this French squad even closer together, a fact confirmed by their coach Bernard Laporte.

"Ireland trounced Italy and we had to dig really deep to become true champions. It is not a Grand Slam but it is a magical moment for us. We wanted to wrap things up with a bang."

Sadly for Scotland the season ended with more of a whimper.

This article was posted on 18-Mar-2007, 08:13 by Hugh Barrow.