France edged closer to their dream of a Grand Slam on Saturday after claiming a 22-10 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship win over Scotland at Murrayfield, with two tries from Montferrand centre Tony Marsh.
Marsh's scores either side of the break were credit for a performance which will be deemed little more than satisfactory against a misfiring Scotland team with little lead in their pencil.
The French try-scoring was wrapped-up with a fleeting blindside break from scrum-half Fabien Galthie, who showed his leadership talents in abundance both in open field and in his decision making.
For Scotland, not a huge amount to build on from another performance which showed their finishing frailties, a second half try from scrum-half Bryan Redpath coming as reward for a brief spell of telling pressure in the second half – but they never accelerated from there.
Pau's Basque back-row terror Imanol Harinordoquy was once again tearing it up in broken play with some enormous hits and useful yards, and Olivier Magne advanced his case for the player of the Championship award with a tireless afternoon's pillaging at openside.
The Scots actually went into an early lead through a Brendan Laney penalty after seven minutes, but it was a half filled with frustration for the home side as chance after chance went by the wayside due to a combination of poor handling and botched execution.
Touch kicks did not find their target, elementary passes were knocked on, and their defence ultimately fell to the continual French pressure on 16 minutes when Tony Marsh grabbed the only try of the half for the French.
It came after a barnstorming run in midfield from Pau powerhouse Damien Traille in the centres, who took three or four Scottish tacklers with him before bursting between Gregor Townsend and John Leslie.
He passed left to Marsh at pace, and the Scots' cause was not helped by an unfortunate slip as fullback Brendan Laney attempted to change direction on a shocking, cut-up Murrayfield surface.
His loss of footing saw Marsh faced with the easiest of run-ins, wing Glenn Metcalfe the only chaser as he went under the posts, the try converted by Montferrand fly-half Gerald Merceron.
Scotland had their best chance of a try ten minutes later when Saracens lock Stuart Murray fell five metres short of the line, Serge Betsen scragging his collar and stealing the ball to the frustration of a muted and virtually atmosphere-less Murrayfield.
A penalty from Merceron on 31 minutes saw France extend their lead to seven points at the break, and in truth it should have been more after their continued probing of the Scottish defence, Harinordoquy and Magne making some quality yards through the middle as scrum-half Bryan Redpath provided Scotland's only real spark.
France injected some pace into the game with the second half underway, and when silky-running fullback Nicolas Brusque aimed a chip-and-chase over the top of Gregor Townsend, he outpaced the Castres player and set up a dangerous attack in the right corner.
With Rougerie in attendance, the kick was regathered and the ruck in the right corner near the Scottish tryline was quickly worked back, and sent swiftly through the hands from right to left, eventually falling to Tony Marsh on the left flank, diving into the corner under a tackle from Glenn Metcalfe.
It was only five minutes later when the advantage was extended to 19 points, scrum-half and captain Fabien Galthie picking and going down the blindside in typically ruthless and predatory style.
The Stade Francais keystone barged round the side of a ruck past the attentions of hooker Gordon Bulloch, exposing the Scotland side's hopeless defensive inadequacies down the French right wing for a clean run from all of 40 metres, fullback Brendan Laney having nowhere near enough pace to run across from the other side of the pitch and catch Galthie, who went over in the right corner – Merceron converting the extras impressively from way out wide.
It appeared to be the blow Scotland needed to knock some shape and life into their play, and it was a surging run from centre James McLaren which led indirectly to a long-awaited Scottish try.
His left to right diagonal run from the 22 saw him past the flailing arms of Merceron and to within five metres of the line, Rougerie managing to halt his progress with a vice-like grip in the tackle when a certain try beckoned.
The ball was eventually worked right to left, and a zig-zagging run from Laney on the left flank saw the Kiwi weave his way agonisingly close to the score, but from the resulting ruck, Bryan Redpath picked the ball up and placed it over the line without hardly lifting his feet from the ground, putting the ball down right in the middle of the ruck right on the line itself.
It was reward for an enterprising match for the Sale Sharks No.9 who had been one of the only sparks for the Scots during the French pressure which preceded the try, Laney converting from left of the posts.
The match petered to an unsatisfying end after that, continual Scottish mistakes blighting a dis-jointed finale, partly due to the frustratingly increasing numbers of late substitutions used by both sides.
The stop/start nature of the last ten minutes did not seem a fitting climax to TV commentator Bill McLaren's final Murrayfield commentary, but referee Alain Rolland eventually saw fit to call time on the match after a missed Merceron penalty.
So France are only one step from Grand Slam glory, but on this showing, they will have to up the tempo to overcome Eddie O'Sullivan's men in two weeks' time, for what promises to be one of the games of the Championship.
For Scotland, typical mediocrity once again, flashes of creation but a laboured and clumsy approach to execution. Hopefully a third professional club side next year will inject some life and competition to a side who have disappointed for the last few years.
Man of the match: Tony Marsh (France)
Two superbly-taken tries and a generally solid performance from the New Zealand-born player. His centre partnership with Damien Traille is fast becoming one of the most feared and consistently productive in Test rugby. Fabien Galthie could have had a serious shout for the award after a marvellous try and a solid leadership display. For Scotland, scrum-half Bryan Redpath was the only serious contender, but Marsh gets our vote in the end for injecting spark into what could have easily been a lifeless game.
Moment of the match: Tony Marsh's second try
Great counter-attacking rugby saw Biarritz's Nicolas Brusque lob a kick down the wing and over the head of the retreating Scottish defence, outpacing Gregor Townsend. The ball was eventually gathered up in the right corner, Olivier Magne showing superb athleticism to get to the ruck first with Aurelien Rougerie. The ball was spun quickly right to left via a plethora of French runners, Marsh eventually evading the tackle of Glenn Metcalfe for the touchdown. BBC TV commentator Bill McLaren could have cause to win our award also, after emotionally uttering his final words at Murrayfield in a 50-year broadcast career. Bill may have had a lump in the throat, but he held it together like the thorough pro he is, even if it may not have been the result he wanted on the field itself.
Villain of the match: The Scottish handling
Continually awful hand/eye co-ordination blighted their play throughout. The ball may have been a tad slippery, and the pitch cutting-up, but there was no excuse for the consistency and magnitude of the Scottish errors in good positions.
(Half-time: Scotland 3 France 10)
Sin-bin: None
The teams:
Scotland: 1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Scott Murray, 5 Jason White, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Martin Leslie, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Glenn Metcalfe, 12 John Leslie, 13 James McLaren, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Brendan Laney
Reserves: Jon Petrie, George Graham, Stuart Grimes, Kenny Logan, Robbie Russell
Unused: Graeme Beveridge, Duncan Hodge
France: 1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 David Bory, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves: Thibault Privat, Sylvain Marconnet, Jimmy Marlu, Remy Martin
Unused: Olivier Azam, Francois Gelez, Pierre Mignoni
Referee: Rolland a.
Points Scorers
Scotland
Tries: Redpath B.W. 1
Conv: Laney B.J. 1
Pen K.: Laney B.J. 1
France
Tries: Galthie F. 1, Marsh T. 2
Conv: Merceron G. 2
Pen K.: Merceron G. 1
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