France narrowly beat Scotland 20-16 at Mooragh Field after the TMO caused controversy with a lengthy appeal not to allow the home side a try in the final game of Saturday’s game.
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Scotland thought they had secured victory at the death but the video referee could find no conclusive evidence to overturn referee Nick Berry’s no-try call on the field after deciding the ball was not touched over the line by Rory Dutch .
France are far from their best, but their performance was enough to ease the pressure on coach Fabian Galthier after a 38-17 defeat by Ireland on the opening weekend of the tournament.
Scotland were left to reflect on whether to miss another chance and, in addition to late drama, they also failed to score when France were reduced to 14 men at half-time, with Vuni Antonio sent to the bin. .
France captain Gregory Alderit said his team would be encouraged by their “crash” against Ireland but it was yet another errant performance from the world’s fourth-ranked side.
Gregor Townsend was forced to make a substitution before kick-off, with Keir Stein withdrawing to attend the birth of his child, allowing Harry Patterson to make his debut at full-back.
The Edinburgh man was instrumental in the first try of the game when his pass was collected by Huw Jones who passed the ball to Ben White who had enough momentum to clear two Frenchmen The tackler takes the ball past the defensive line.
Tomas Ramos responded with a penalty kick.
The visitors were then furious as Gael Fickou swept through the heart of the Scotland backline only to be brought down by a high tackle from Duhan van der Merwe, who then got in front of the Scotland defence. Stealing possession and rubbing salt into France’s wounds. .
Scotland’s lack of discipline was a major factor in Cardiff’s near-collapse with a 27-0 lead over Wales last weekend.
However, Townsend’s side won the penalty count and Finn Russell converted two penalties in front of the post to extend the home side’s advantage to 13-3.
However, France finally showed why they had only lost to Ireland in their previous 11 Six Nations games as Cyril Baye’s pinpoint pass picked out the Philippines after some clever hands from the forward near the Scotland line. Ku charges in the corner.
Ramos added the extra man on the touchline to reduce France’s deficit to two points.
At half-time Scotland were disappointed not to extend their advantage, which remained so despite constant pressure on France heading into the break.
Antonio was sent to the penalty area for an armless tackle, but even without his 145kg weight, France won a crucial penalty from their own position in the final action of the first half.
Scotland had seven minutes left at the start of the second quarter but again failed to make a difference.
Russell opened the scoring from the penalty spot with less than an hour left in the second half to extend Scotland’s advantage to 16-10, but a fierce kicking match drew boos from the 67,000-strong crowd at Murrayfield.
It was a moment of real quality and with 10 minutes remaining France won the game.
Louis Biller-Biare showed great pace to score France’s second shot.
Ramos’ goal helped France take the lead for the first time in the game, and he took a penalty kick to extend the advantage to 4 points.
Scotland still deserved to win and many inside Murrayfield believed they had done so as numerous replays of the final scene were shown on the big screens.
But the referee’s final decision caused the French team’s anger.
(AFP)