France dampen Scottish hope

A new-look French team kicked their Six Nations defence off with a disjointed 27-6 victory over a below-par Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Any hope Scotland had of winning this game seemed to evaporate as Dan Parks's kick-off sailed straight into touch, it really didn't get much better than that for a frustrated Scotland side.  There was plenty of endeavour but little sustenance to back it up, instead it was a performance that was ruined by basic errors and a lack of control.

Frank Hadden picked a Scotland side based on form, only to witness his side form an inferiority complex that ensured their game failed to get out of first gear.  Any brief bright spells, and there were precious few at that, were brought to premature ends with basic errors.  As the game wore on the frustration grew, although it was there from the outset.

How Andrew Henderson escaped a red card is beyond belief, a head-butt on Damien Traille after Vincent Clerc's first try went unpunished despite being seen by the video referee.  Given a reprieve for his misdemeanour he failed to make the most of it, lacking the cutting edge Scotland so desperately needed to unlock an organised French defence.

Much was made of the inclusion of Parks over Chris Paterson but the truth was Parks failed to justify his selection.  Two fine long kicks from hand and a snap drop-goal aside, he looked average and when it mattered most he was unable to bring Scotland back into the game, although to be fair to him he received little help from those around him.

Popular consensus pointed towards a new-look French team, containing four new caps and a further three players with less than ten caps apiece, struggling to settle early on thus allowing Scotland to control early exchanges.  The chance would have been a fine thing for Scotland, as in reality France looked dangerous from the off, opting to run from deep and reveal their attacking intent.

It may not have always gone to plan for France but due to endless Scotland errors they had ample chances to get it right.  And when they did get it right it was devastating, Vincent Clerc and Cédric Heymans linking superbly to create the opening try for Clerc.  There was a suggestion of a forward pass in the score but that did little to detract from a fine move.

When Traille added a penalty a few minutes later Parks's fourth-minute drop goal was a fading light of Scottish hope.  The Scottish horror show took a turn for the worse with little more than a quarter of the game gone, paving way for Julien Malzieu to score on debut.

Malzieu seized the ball to take a quick penalty and promptly kicked ahead, a kick that seemed a little naive as both Rory Lamont and Parks seemed to have it covered.  Lamont ran straight past the ball and Parks's attempted hack only resulted in a miss-kick and the ball bouncing into the unsuspecting Malzieu's hands.  The look of utter surprise on his face said it all as he trotted in under the posts.

To say the game was as good as up at such an early stage would be a bold statement, yet the truth was it was.  Fourteen points down and with nothing to suggest they had enough in the tank to raise their game, despite Parks landing a penalty on the half-hour mark, Scotland were dead and buried.

France have, in the past, been guilty of taking their foot of the gas and the same can be said of their performance here, although one may point to the wealth of new faces as a contributing factor.  When Marc Lièvremont looks back at the video he will see there is plenty to be done, but at the same time he will see the basis of a team that could win a Grand Slam.

François Trinh-Duc was protected as much as possible but he still showed enough to warrant another start next time out, as did the industrious Fulgence Ouedraogo who quietly went about his business.  It was never going to be a polished French display, there were too many factors preventing it.  But it gives Lièvremont and his troops a starting point to build upon.

What it gives Scotland is a rude awakening, they are simply a one-dimensional team.  In trying to play a wide game they often just shovelled the ball across the field failing to fix defenders and ultimately running out of space.  They now have six days to turn things around before heading to Wales, a nation high on confidence, and knowing that it can only get better.

Man of the Match:  Up front William Servat was busy and always willing to carry the ball forward, Thierry Dusautoir was tireless in his work, without ever really finding top gear and Loïc Jacquet looked impressive.  But it was behind where France were at their best and in particular Vincent Clerc.  He bagged two tries for his efforts but it was his overall work rate and endeavour that saw him pose such a threat to Scotland.

Moment of the Match:  In a game Scotland believed they could win Vincent Clerc's first try seemed to suck the life out of them.  Looking to establish themselves early on Scotland were never able to recover from Clerc's try and simply had no answer once behind, which will be a major worry for Frank Hadden.

Villain of the Match:  Scotland centre Andrew Henderson took this award for his head-butt on Damien Traille.  He may have escaped punishment on the pitch but he can expect a date with a judicial committee in the very near future.  Totally unnecessary and could yet prove very costly.

The Scorers:

For Scotland:
Pen:  Parks
Drop goal:  Parks

For France:
Tries:  Clerc 2, Malzieu
Cons:  Elissalde 2, Skrela
Pens:  Traille 2

The Teams:

Scotland:  15 Rory Lamont, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Dave Callam, 7 John Barclay, 6 Jason White (c), 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Fergus Thomson, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Chris Paterson, 22 Hugo Southwell.

France:  15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 David Marty, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Elvis Vermeulen, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Loïc Jacquet, 4 Lionel Nallet (c), 3 Julien Brugnaut, 2 William Servat, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements:  16 Nicolas Mas, 17 Dimitri Szarzewski, 18 Arnaud Mela, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 David Skrela, 22 Aurélien Rougerie.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)
Television match official:  Chris White (England)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)