Scotland player ratings vs France from the third round of the Six Nations as Gregor Townsend’s men head to Paris.
France have come away victorious, in the milestone 100th match against Scotland. In what is shaping up to be one of the most memorable Six Nations Champions in recent history, ‘Les Bleus’ and Scotland stole the show in a dramtic match to close out the weekend. Gael Fickou’s 80th minute try sealed the bonus point win for France, with the score-line reading 32-21.
France started the match on fire, with three unanswered tries. The scoring began after just four minutes, with Antoine Dupont shipping the ball to Romain Ntamack, for the fly half to cross over. Thomas Ramos extended his lead as the competitions top points scorer, with a well struck conversion.
A shock red card after just six minutes for Grant Gilchrist, put the Scotland defence into disarray. France capitalised on this immediately, and were over to score their second, with Penaud Dumortier exploiting a left wing overlap. Another red card followed in a crazy first 10 minutes, as France flanker Mohamed Haouas flew in with an unprovoked headbutt on Ben White.
The rapid tempo continued, with Thomas Ramos running on to intercept Finn Russell’s pass, before converting his own try. France established a confident 19-0 lead, yet Scottish hope never ran dry. Russell and Huw Jones lead from the front, as the visitors forged a comeback.
A brace of tries for Jones, with Russell also scoring and contributing an assist, kept Scotland in touching distance for the second half. However a well worked move in the final play of the game, saw Fickou dive over to score, as the French fans in the Stade de France breathed a sigh of relief.
Scroll down for Scotland player ratings vs France.
France: 32
Tries: 4 (Ntamack 4′, Dumortier 9′, Ramos 19′, Fickou 80′
Cons: 2 (Ramos 4′ 19′)
Pens: 2 (Ramos, 36′, 58′)
Scotland: 21
Tries: 3 (Jones 26′, 48′, Russell 68′
Cons: 3 (Russell 26′, 48′, 68)
Pens: 0
Scotland player stats vs France:
Carries: 14 – Finn Russell
Metres: 138 – Huw Jones
Offloads: 4 – Finn Russell
Defenders beaten: 6 – Huw Jones
Tackles: 14 – Jamie Ritchie
Tackles missed: 3 – Finn Russell and Matt Fagerson
Turnovers: 2 – Jonny Gray
Turnovers conceded: 3 – Huw Jones and Finn Russell
Handling errors: 5 – Finn Russell
Penalties conceded: 2 – Ritchie Gray and Jamie Ritchie
Scotland player ratings vs France:
15. Stuart Hogg: Narrowly missed out on scoring Scotland’s bonus point try, Hogg was a threat in attack 7/10
14. Kyle Steyn: Contributed in the build up for Huw Jones try, and worked well with Hogg and van Der Merwe in the back three. 6/10
13. Huw Jones: Scorer of two important tries and dominant with the ball in hand. Impressive defensive showing, would have been a perfect 10 if he hadn’t given away three penalties. 9/10
12. Sione Tuipulotu: Involved in run up to Huw Jones second try, and made the short yards count. Entrusted to do the tough grunt work in the centre, with Russell and Jones making the headlines. 7/10
11. Duhan van der Merwe Took a big hit from Jelonch in the opening minutes which looked like it rocked his confidence. Off the pace from the VDM who tore England and Wales apart, still involved, yet France contained the powerhouse winger. 5/10