Biarritz wing Philippe Bernat-Salles managed to produce the only moment of excitement at the Stade de France, Paris, as his try helped France to an uninspiring and error-ridden 16-6 win over Scotland in the Six Nations Championship.
Bernat-Salles' try immediately after half-time had looked like bringing to life a poor advert for rugby, which yielded 28 handling errors, 33 turnovers and 27 penalties, but unfortunately failed to do so, as a capacity 80,000 crowd showed their disapproval by booing their victorious side on the final whistle.
Harsh critics may lay some blame with Australian referee Stuart Dickinson's apparent pedantry, but in truth it was an inept 80 minutes of rugby from every player on the pitch which conspired to produce one of the dullest and most incohesive Six Nations matches in recent memory.
Scotland defied their tag as extreme underdogs by holding Les Bleus 6-6 at the interval, but with France tipped as England's main rivals for the championship, Clive Woodward's men can sleep easy if France play out the rest of the competition in the manner they did this game.
Speaking after the game, Scotland coach Ian Mcgeechan spoke of where exactly the game was lost: "We had one casual minute after half-time, and that was ultimately the difference. We're all very disappointed, and thought we played well. We created opportunities in the first-half, and thought we were very competitive, but it didn't show on the scoreboard.
"The crowd weren't too happy about what was going on, and that worked in our favour."
The band's decision to play two verses of "Flower of Scotland" before the match caught players and fans alike by surprise, but a bigger shock was on the cards for the Scots as the game got underway.
Cameron Murray chipped ahead down the right wing in to the French 22 after only two minutes, and from the resulting ruck near the line, their creative centre-piece Gregor Townsend felt the full weight of the French pack, with his knee buckling, and an early exit for the Castres fly-half, who spent the remainder of the game under ice on the bench.
Duncan Hodge was summoned on to fill the breach, and the more structured conservative approach of the Edinburgh star may have helped Ian McGeechan's side, as the French struggled to break them down from the first and second phase, and Hodge probed the French fringes around the base of the rucks.
Scrum-half Andy Nicol shouldered much of the attacking burden for the Scots, breaking succesfully on more than one occasion with a dummy and burst of pace, but ultimately resulting in no first-half tries, with the sides going in tied at 6-6 at the break.
On paper that score may well have flattered Scotland, but in an atmospherically lacking Stade de France they were every bit as threatening as their opponents, taking the lead after 11 minutes with a Kenny Logan penalty.
Christophe Lamaison -- largely deprived of quick ball from Fabien Galthie -- levelled the scores minutes later, only for Logan to once again put Scotland ahead with a penalty.
Nicol's sniping runs got the large Scottish travelling contingent going midway through the half, and when he broke from the 22 to face a one on one with fullback Garbajosa it looked as if a score might be on, but with support visibly lacking he threw away possession for France to counter through the strangely quiet Olivier Magne, who worked the ball in to the Scotland half and subsequently inside down the right.
It fell to Bernat-Salles who thought he had a shout for a try, but a superb last ditch intervention from Kenny Logan's left thigh meant that the video referee had no option but not to award the score.
A penalty from Lamaison brought the scores to 6-6 minutes before the break, but the last act of the first-half was the sin-binning of flanker Martin Leslie for Scotland after what at first appeared to be a blatant clothes-line on Bernat-Salles near the Scottish line, but on later inspection revealed a spot of amateur dramatics from the Frenchman, who although collared was merely tackled at shoulder height.
Lamaison missed the chance to send his side in ahead at half-time with the resulting penalty, but the first minute of the second period saw that elusive French spark finally rear its head.
Stade Francais' Franck Comba broke from midfield outside the 22, and after a weaving crossfield run found the lively Bernat-Salles outside him on the right flank. Looking like the Scottish cover would be enough to bundle him in to the advertising hoardings, the Biarritz flyer side-stepped Kenny Logan and then jinked his way past Stuart Grimes over the line for the try, converted by Lamaison for a 13-6 lead.
A huge up and under from Lamaison caused further tremors in the Scotland rearguard, with the impressive Chris Paterson taking his eye off the ball on the edge of the 22, and Andy Nicol scurrying back to touch down under pressure from the French runners.
France rang the changes, and the presence of former captain Abdelatif Benazzi inspired the pack, as Magne charged for the Scotland line from the 22. He was held short and Bernat-Salles tried to pick up and dive over but to no avail. With a whole back line waiting Scotland sensiby conceded a penalty by killing the ruck, and as the wedge failed to break down the now organised Scotland, the danger was averted.
Captain Fabien Pelous was the next to have a go, when he threw a dummy on the 22 and broke for the line. When a direct sprint for the try seemed the more fruitful option, Pelous looked out wide for the added gas of Bernat-Salles, but the looping pass gave the Scots time to regroup, and the winger was bundled in to touch. Referee Stuart Dickinson -- unnecessarily pedantic on a number of occasions -- went back for an earlier penalty, which Lamaison struck wide from the right touch line.
Scotland had to endure the last 15 minutes without their scrum-half and captain Andy Nicol due to injury, with Sale Sharks' Bryan Redpath on to try and spark some life in to what had materialised in to an extremely dull and error-ridden match.
Kenny Logan went about trying to do just that, breaking from halfway through the French centres and offloading to Chris Paterson at pace down the left wing. Paterson snaked inside and as a gap opened up for Jon Petrie, the Glasgow No.8 couldn't hold on for what could well have been a try, with Garbajosa's frailties at fullback once again exposed as he slipped over for Paterson to glide past him.
The Toulouse fullback went some way to making up for 78 minutes of ineptitude when he tore away from the defence down the left wing from 40 metres out. With only Paterson to beat, the Scotsman raced across the pitch to bundle him in to the corner flag, followed by Olivier Magne clattering in to Cameron Murray as he shaped up to take a quick lineout.
The French crowd finally came to life at the end of the game as Lamaison slotted over an 85th minute penalty, only to boo their side, who had won the game, but lost French respect after a dull and unco-ordinated showing.
Man of the match: Philippe Bernat-Salles (France)
The Teams:
France: 1 Pieter De Villiers, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 4 David Auradou, 5 Fabien Pelous (c), 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Christophe Moni, 8 Christophe Juillet, 9 Fabien Galthie, 10 Christophe Lamaison, 11 Philippe Bernat-Salles, 12 Richard Dourthe, 13 Franck Comba, 14 David Bory, 15 Xavier Garbajosa
Reserves: Abdelatif Benazzi, Serge Betsen Tchoua, Christian Califano, Gerald Merceron
Unused: Olivier Azam, Philippe Carbonneau, Christophe Dominici
Scotland: 1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Richard Metcalfe, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Martin Leslie, 8 Jon Petrie, 9 Andy Nicol (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Kenny Logan, 12 John Leslie, 13 James McLaren, 14 Cammie Murray, 15 Chris Paterson
Reserves: Gordon McIlwham, Alan Bulloch, Stuart Grimes, Duncan Hodge, Bryan Redpath, Robbie Russell, Jason White
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch Judges: Scott Young (Australia), Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Points Scorers:
France
Tries: Bernat-Salles P. 1
Conv: Lamaison C. 1
Pen K.: Lamaison C. 3
Scotland
Pen K.: Logan K.McK. 2
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