Scotland 9-18 France
Scrum-half Morgan Parra
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Sunday, 07, Feb 2010 05:02
By Martyn Thomas.
France laid down an impressive marker for this season's Six Nations with a comfortable win at Murrayfield.
Mathieu Basteraud will hog most of the headlines, for the right reasons, after the young Stade Francais centre marked his return to international rugby with a brace of tries.
Scrum-half Morgan Parra added a further eight points with the boot against a spirited Scotland side.
It is the biggest cliché in world rugby to question which France side will turn up when they play in the Six Nations. But the crowd packed into Murrayfield were left in no doubt as two massive tackles from Aurelien Rougerie signalled Les Bleus' intent.
Indeed, the Clermont wing had to be substituted with less than five minutes gone thanks to the effects of those huge hits.
However, for all their intent it was the home side who got themselves on the scoreboard first. Max Evans' interception setting up Scotland's first foray into the French 22', and Chris Paterson stroking over the resultant penalty.
The French weren't bowed by this setback though and immediately came back at the Scottish. A brilliant pass from Yannick Jauzion switched the play, before Parra chipped over the top for Vincent Clerc, on for Rougerie, to chase.
The winger looked to have a simple finish but first Kelly Brown, and then a fantastic saving tackle from Thom Evans kept the French out.
They didn't have to wait long for their opening score though. France put Scotland under extreme pressure from the resulting scrums, and when they eventually released the ball through Harinordoquy, the Scottish defence was sucked in and the ball spun wide.
The returning Basteraud was then given a simple finish to put Les Bleus in front.
The French definitely deserved their lead but Scotland were finding space of their own in a fairly open first quarter.
Francois Trinh-Duc couldn't quite capitalise on a poor Godman kick before Parra and Paterson exchanged penalties.
However as the half ended, France began to turn the screw and exert their dominance, and were rewarded with a second try.
Great hands from Trinh-Duc and then man-of-the-match Imanol Harinordoquy sent Basteraud clear of Brown before the young centre dummied Phil Godman to score. As the Stade Francais player's celebration suggested, the Scottish defence just couldn't see him.
And in truth, Scotland were fortunate to make it to half-time without falling further behind. But, despite finishing the first forty camped in the Scottish 22', the visitors were unable to quite get over the whitewash.
The second half started in much the same way as the first had finished, with France dominant.
Parra and Paterson again swapped kicks, either side of a missed drop-goal attempt from Trinh-Duc, to keep the deficit at nine points going into the final twenty minutes.
Parra then missed the chance to stretch France's lead with a penalty attempt.
However, the scores stayed the same for the rest of an interesting, if not completely absorbing second half as France strolled to victory.
Scotland can take heart from the fact they didn't crumble however, and indeed threatened a try late on as Sean Lamont made an impressive break. The wing became isolated however and France were able to secure the turnover.
But in truth they were second best from the moment Rougerie made the first, stinging, tackle of the game and on this form it will take something special to beat Les Blues.
Scotland: Paterson; T Evans, M Evans, Morrison, Lamont; Godman, Cusiter (Capt); Dickinson, Ford, Low, Hines, Kellock, Brown, Barclay, Beattie
Replacements: S Lawson, Jacobsen, Gray, MacDonald, R Lawson, Grove, Southwell
Pen: Paterson (3)
France: Poitrenaud; Fall, Basteraud, Jauzion, Rougerie; Trinh-Duc, Parra; Domingo, Servat, Mas, Nallet, Pape, Dusautoir (Capt), Ouedraogo, Harinordoquy
Replacements: Szarzewski, Ducalcon, Pierre, Bonnaire, Michilak, Marty, Clerc
Try: Basteraud (2)
Con: Parra
Pen: Parra (2)
Ref: Nigel Owens