SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY REPORTS

Six Nations: France 34-21 Scotland

Published Date: 06 February 2011
By Iain Morrison
IT IS one of rugby's oldest unwritten rules that a team that needs to win will usually beat a team that wants to win and that was undoubtedly the case in Paris yesterday evening.

The French side that had been humiliated by the Wallabies last time out exorcised a few ghosts and played some breathtaking rugby. "French flair" is no longer quite the oxymoron it became under Bernard Laporte because a couple of late tries from Imanol Harinordoquy and Damien Traille might not be bettered in the remainder of the tournament.

There was something for everyone last night because the Scots played their full part in an open and exciting match without ever doing quite enough to suggest that they could actually win it. Andy Robinson's side will bemoan the loss but, after seeing France score the opening try as early as the third minute, the Scots scored three of their own and had to operate throughout this match with a set scrum that was creaking at the best of times and conceded a penalty try when the going got really tough.

There were stand-out performances from Richie Gray and Joe Ansbro, the former in defence, the latter in attack where Scotland may finally have unearthed someone with the pace, power and guile to make an impact at this level. Certainly the Saint was praised by Robinson after the game, not least because he set up the third of Scotland's tries with a half break and a neat little offload to Sean Lamont, who finished off the move in some style. The other wingers also had their moments, with Max Evans showing surprising strength to break several tackles on the left and Nikki Walker stretching his legs on a couple of occasions. Rory Lawson's running from the base bought a yard of space for every other runner.

But Gray was the outstanding Scottish player in every sense of the phrase, an exceptional athlete in rugby togs whose work rate and ability to cover all points of the compass made you wonder if he had a doppelganger somewhere on the field. In the first half the big man saved two certain tries, once when he caught hold of Aurelien Rougerie's shirt tail with the French centre in full flight and secondly when he collared Yoann Huget when nothing stood between the flying winger and the Scottish try line. Gray also made one superhuman charge out of defence and the initial breach in the French line which led to Al Kellock's opening Scottish try.

If he carries on in this vein the big man will find himself on a plane to Australia with the Lions in two years time.

France opened the scoring early when Scots lost possession in the opposition half and Les Bleus are nothing if not clinical. Rougerie made ground up the left before putting in a neat grubber kick and Maxime Medard beat Walker to the ball. Francois Trinh-Duc added a sweet drop goal and France were ten points up after as many minutes.

Kellock barged over from short range after good approach work by Gray, Lawson and John Barclay but, towards the end of the first half, the French won a penalty at a five metre scrum and, instead of pointing at the posts, Thierry Dusautoir opted to turn the screw with another scrum. The official match statistics will tell you that the Scots lost just one set scrum but that doesn't begin to do justice to the hurt, physical and psychological, that the French exacted at the coal face. Four times this particular scrum was re-set with the French ignoring the three points every time until the referee eventually tired of the charade and marched between the posts to indicate a penalty try. Afterwards Robinson had no argument with the decision and he might have added that his team were lucky that a yellow card didn't follow.

The match looked to have been won on 54 minutes when Harinordoquy scored a fabulous try, kick with Trinh-Duc adding a cheeky through-the-legs pass. It might have finished off another but this Scottish side is made of sterner stuff and they scored two tries in a frantic final quarter when the early tempo of the game ensured that gaps were opening up all over the field.

Mike Blair eschewed a chance of three points from a rare penalty under the French posts and was rewarded when Kelly Brown brushed aside some ineffective French defence to keep Scots hopes alive. Lamont added his try five minutes from time and it would have mattered more but for a glorious French effort that will be replayed for years to come. It started with some fancy footwork on the left flank by Medard and it went through most of the French backline including Trinh-Duc, Dimitri Yashvili and Clement Poitrenaud before Traille dotted down under the posts.

The final points of the match went to Yachvili with the first successful penalty of the afternoon on 79 minutes. It was a strangely prosaic end to a exhilarating game of rugby

This article was originally posted on 6-Feb-2011, 08:25 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 6-Feb-2011, 08:27.