A second half fight-back by the Scotland Club International side brought them inches away from a famous victory over France at the Stade Robert Diochon tonight (Friday).
Two drop goals either side of a Scott Wight (Melrose) penalty kick saw the Scots keep the French in contention but a break-away converted try saw the home side go in at the break 13-3 up in front of the 5,000 strong partisan crowd.
After half time Scotland began their spirited come-back with Scott Wight’s boot providing a further nine points with no reply from the French with 12 minutes to go.
The Scots proceeded to dominate the closing moments of the game, spending large period camps on the French five metre line but tragically for Scotland that’s how the game ended with the visitors a single point away from a memorable evening in France.
Speaking after the game, Scotland Club International head coach, Ally Donaldson, said: ”This is the first time the boys have played together and we came very close to winning it.
“The effort from the team was outstanding from the whole squad, we played some fantastic rugby in the second half, the players were out on their feet at the end. It’s hugely disappointing to lose in this manner – there were 79 minutes on the clock and we were camped on their line but we just couldn’t score.
“There’s a huge amount of positives from the game that we’ll take into the Ireland game where we’ll be even better but at the moment we’re still dealing with the disappointment of this loss.
“I wouldn’t single out any individual and couldn’t ask for a greater effort from the team.”
The Scotland Club International’s next and final 6 Nations fixture is v Ireland at Myreside on Friday 13 March (kick-off, 7.30pm)

Scotland club international squad v France at on 13 February 2009, Stade Robert Diochon, Rouen, France (kick-off 6pm)
15 Fraser Harkness (Selkirk)
14 Calum Anderson (Melrose)
13 Malcolm Clapperton (Boroughmuir)
12 Dougie Brown (Watsonians)
11 Lee Jones (Selkirk)
10 Scott Wight (Melrose)
9 Richard Snedden (Currie)
1 Alan Dymock (Heriots)
2 Pat Macarthur (Ayr)
3 Elliot McLaren (West of Scotland)
4 Allan Kelly (Glasgow Hawks)
5 Scott Sutherland (Ayr)
6 John Dalziel CAPTAIN (Melrose)
7 Andrew Dunlop (Ayr)
8 Ross Weston (Currie)
Replacements
16 Scott Burnett (Currie)
17 Gordon Reid (Ayr)
18 Andy Adam (Currie)
19 Dan Teague (Edinburgh Accies)
20 Alasdhair McFarlane (Ayr)
21 Gavin Craig (Selkirk)
22 Colin Goudie (Heriots)

This article was posted on 13-Feb-2009, 22:42 by Hugh Barrow.