Expectations were held in check before the game as France couldn’t play as poorly as they did the weekend before (or so we thought) plus Scotland fell away in the second half at Cardiff before a final rally.
Scotland had the upper hand in the first half at Murrayfield, Ben White scoring a well constructed try helped by Harris Paterson starting at full back for the first time after 6 (read it again) professional appearances for Edinburgh. (He was playing for Heriots in the Super 6 last season.) They went into the sheds with a lead of only 6 points, having failed to convert pressure when France went down to 14 men, losing their mammoth tight head for a no arms tackle.
Most of the second half, bar the last 10 minutes, was boring with both sides kicking to and from their 22s like tetris while the forwards stood around the middle stretching their neck muscles. France worked a try up the blind side through their speedy winger and took the lead back. Gloom descended.
(I read a match report that said that Shaun Edwards had told France not to run slow ball, so just kick it back. Surely there is a way to defeat such tactics while World Rugby catch-up.)
Then came the “incident” where the ball was over the line but the ref called it held up and the TMO went round in circles causing the Scottish coaches to jump up and down, first in joy then in anger. The ref again didn’t cover himself in glory as he took 4+ minutes to come back to where he had started.
In truth, Scotland lost because they did not take advantage of their earlier possession and territory. The were not brave enough during the kick tennis in the second half, deciding to contain France instead.
France were no great shakes either. Still lacking fluency and dominance. But they won away from home and that will give them confidence. They brought a lot of fans to Edinburgh and filled the city with colour despite the constant drizzle.
Tom English’s report here; Scotland 16-20 France: ‘Wasteful hosts left confused by late TMO drama’ – BBC Sport
Meanwhile down in Twickenham, England, after a slow start conceding a penalty try, figured out that physical domination would slow Wales down and cause them to make errors. Wales had their chances and didn’t make the most of England going down to 13 men – quite the opposite in fact as that is when Earl scored his try. Leading at half-time didn’t help them much as England then forced penalties. Gatland has credit in the bank and I’m sure Wales will learn about better game management throughout the tournament. Stand out for me was Reffell – he had another storming match.
Question – why are we using southern hemisphere refs for these games? They seem to give rise to controversy and surely they don’t have the same relationships with the players as European officials.