The Blues scared each other to the end! With a penalty scored by Thomas Ramos in the last minutes (79th), the XV of France won by three points against Scotland (30-27). Given the line-ups revealed on Thursday, the Scots were expecting even greater adversity than in their victory last week. But as was the case at Murrayfield, it was the XV du Thistle, with a try scored by Kyle Steyn (5th), who took control from the first minutes of the meeting.
With the return of the French incumbents, it is the intensity and the rhythm of this opposition which have gone up several levels. Ahead of the preparation of the French, the Scots chained the launches by putting a lot of rhythm throughout the first period. Successful in the first half hour with a clear domination (67% possession in their favor at halftime), the Scots did not know how to concretize their efforts and found themselves in difficulty after the yellow card inflicted on Ali Price (30th). It was enough for the XV of France and Romain Ntamack to sign their awakening by going to register the first tricolor try of the meeting after a good job of the blue scrum (30th)
Dominators in the scrum, the Blues relied on this sector to recover penalties and relieve themselves in important moments, just as they can thank Gabin Villière, author of two excellent scratches in the French 22 meters. But it was on returning from the locker room that the executives stepped on the accelerator to make the difference in just two minutes. At first, it was with a try from the inevitable Damian Penaud (42nd), his 28th in blue, that Fabien Galthié’s players widened the gap.
Picked cold, the Scots conceded a second try just after the dismissal. Author of a formidable breakthrough along the touchline, Thomas Ramos sent a very long pass to Charles Ollivon who allowed himself to overtake Finn Russell to go and register the third French try (44th). At that time, the score of 27-10 suggested an easier second half for the XV of France.
But on Saturday evening, the majority of French players were playing a resumption match and over the last twenty minutes it was felt. Fresher, the Scots took advantage of it to win the duels, advance on each impact and managed to return to equality in just ten minutes thanks to three tries scored by Van der Merwe (63rd), Rory Darge (68th) and Kyle Steyn ( 73rd). Faster and more incisive at the end of the match, the Scots thought they could win but the irregularity against the poles of Finn Russell (3/5) certainly cost them a second consecutive victory over the France team.
Fortunately for the Blues, they can count on an outstanding scorer in the person of Thomas Ramos. By achieving a 100% against the poles, it was he who gave victory to his team with his penalty in the last moments of the match (79th). The Blues, even suffering at the end of the match, will be able to be satisfied with having been able to snatch the victory but may have lost bigger with the outings on injury of Romain Ntamack, Cyril Baille and Jonathan Danty.