There is nowhere else to begin but with the punch slung by Mohamad Haouas at Jamie Ritchie which left France under-equipped to beat a Scotland side that was up for the fight.
France’s mercurial playmaker Romain Ntamack missed a penalty in the first minute then went off injured on the seventh after failing a head assessment.
France went down to fourteen men within five minutes when flanker Francois Cros was sinbinned for an up-and-under tackle on Grant Gilchrist.
Hastings scored two penalties to give Scotland a six point lead with just over fifteen minutes played.
The French roared back with a classy try on thirty-minutes finished by fullback Damien Penaud
Five minutes later all hell broke loose leading to a continental moment of madness when Haouas swung a punch in the face of Richie.
Sean Maitland scored on halftime then four minutes into the restart to make it 21-7 Scotland.
France’s replacement for Ntamack, Mathieu Jalibert converted a penalty to move the score within eleven but to little avail when McInally sneaked in to score Scotland’s third try.
French captain Charles Ollivon powered over for the French on seventy-five minutes. Blair Kinghorn had a chance to score a fourth try for Scotland right on the death but kicked the ball dead.
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Scottish tails-up while France a bit blue
Whether it was the chance of a grand slam for the first time in ten years weighing on their shoulders or the French just came to Scotland with a bit of Parisian irritation, Les Bleus didn’t look at it from the moment referee Peter Williams blew to kick-off the third ‘auld alliance trophy’ encounter.
Before the match, the opening stats on France were impressive, having scored a try within seven minutes of every game of the Six Nations.
Les Bleus had a chance to get on the scoresheet within one but Romain Ntamack skewered his 45m penalty wide of the posts.
There was a sense this might be a bad day for the French when on seven minutes France’s star playmaker went off for a head assessment and did not return, replaced by firebrand Mathieu Jalibert.
Scotland sensed French weakness and pounced on it, matching Edwards’ blitz defense with intensity and drive.
Hastings converted two penalties with just over fifteen minutes gone, giving the dark blues a six point lead.
While there was excitement to witness the dawn of a new French side under the dictatorial control of Fabien Galthie, there was also a little satisfaction in seeing the old France turn up.
Le Blues gave away twelve penalties in the first half for ill-discipline, handling errors and a scrum that just was not working.
France didn’t come alive till thirty-two minutes when Antoine Dupont threaded a classy pass cross field to Damien Penaud who touched down in the corner. Suddenly ill-tempered France were 7-6 up, but the momentum gained off the excellent try was eviscerated by an underlying culture of mad moments that seem to plague our French cousins.
Nick Haining and Mohamed Haouas were having a shoving match off the ball and when Jamie Ritchie ran twenty yards to defend his teammate, Haouas swung a punch at Ritchie giving Paul Williams no option but to issue the French tighthead with a red card.
France’s ill-temper was now fury but the Scots didn’t cower from it, in fact they thrived on it, matching the French in the lineout, the high balls and obliterating their scrum which all led to a Maitland try right on half time. From further French ill-discipline Hogg kicked a penalty to touch, Scotland won the lineout, and Hastings broke through the centre of the French defence, carrying the ball to the twenty-two line, where, from the resulting ruck, Price played it to Hogg who threw a bullet to Sam Johnson who fed Maitland for a finish in the corner.
Second half
Four minutes into the second half, Maitland scored his second try in the exact same position. Scotland put pressure on a French lineout, Ally Price carried the ball to five metres, Ritchie stepped in at fly-half, played it to Hastings, who whipped it out to Maitland to finish.
France were in disarray and even future superstar flanker Demba Bamba couldn’t power the French back into the match.
McInally scored Scotland’s third try with a good dose of fortune. He over threw a lineout which the French tried to collect but only deflected it straight into McInally’s path, who had a clear run for the line and finished in the corner. Scotland 28 France 10 with just under twenty minutes to go.
Kyle Steyn came on to make his debut and almost set-up a try for George Horne, winning the aerial challenge brilliantly against Gael Fikou and putting the ball into Horne’s path, who tried to kick and chase it over the line.
The French had one more burst at the Scots’ defence and scored with a try that ran the length of the field and was powered over by captain Charles Ollivon with the help of Figuet, Serin and Bamba in the build-up. But as the rain came down on Murrayfield everything pointed to towards a noir finish for Les Bleus, which it was.
FT: Scotland 28 – 17 France
Scorecard:
Scotland 28
Tries: Maitland (2), McInally
Conversions: Hastings (2)
Penalties: Hastings (3)
France 17
Tries: Penaud, Ollivon
Conversions: Jalibert (2)
Penalties: Jalibert
Scotland: (Backs); Hogg; Maitland, Harris, Johnson, Kinghorn; Hastings, Price, (Forwards); Sutherland, Brown, Fagerson, Cummings, Gilchrist, Ritchie, Watson, Haining
Replacements: McInally, Dell, Nel, Skinner, Bradbury, Horne, Weir, Steyn
France: (Backs); Bouthier, Penaud, Vakatawa, Vincent, Fickou, Ntamack, Dupont, (Forwards); Poirot, Marchand, Haouas, le Roux, Willemse, Cros, Ollivon, Alldritt.
Replacements: Chat, Gros, Bamba, Taofifénua, Cretin, Serin, Jalibert, Ramos
Harry Jamshid Reporter Sports Pages 