Scotland came up short in their quest for a sixth successive win as France claimed a 22-15 Autumn Nations Cup victory at Murrayfield.
Gregor Townsend’s men were looking to match a feat achieved only twice in the Dark Blues’ modern rugby history, the last by David Sole’s 1990 Grand Slam winners.
But beating France for the second time this year proved to be a game too far as Fabien Galthie’s men claimed a vital victory in Edinburgh thanks to Virimi Vakatawa’s try and 17 points from the boot of Thomas Ramos.
The first half was a battle of the kickers, with Duncan Weir ensuring Scotland went in level at 12-12 after successfully knocking over his four attempts.
But the fly-half could only add three more points after the break to leave the Scots all but out of the reckoning for the competition’s first-place play-off in a fortnight.
Scotland will be idle next week after seeing their clash with Covid-hit Fiji axed ― but France can book their place in the final with victory over Italy in Paris.
It was evident early that keeping referee Wayne Barnes on side would be key for both teams ― but neither had much joy on that front.
It was Scotland who found themselves in the naughty books in the opening 10 minutes, with Chris Harris pinged for not rolling away and Ramos slotted the opening penalty.
Blair Kinghorn’s needless body check on Antoine Dupont cost the Scots decent territory but the big wing redeemed himself shortly afterwards when he scrambled back across his own line to prevent Vakatawa touching down from Gael Fickou’s clever grubber kick.
However, Ramos did kick over again as Les Bleus were forced to settle for three points.
Scotland identified Vincent Rattez as the weak spot in the visitors’ defence, targeting him with a series of high balls. The ploy paid off as the wing found himself pounced upon by three white jerseys.
Scotland’s trusty maul attack did not do much to dent the French rearguard but Weir did the necessary with his first penalty to halve the deficit.
A tense affair as @FranceRugby hold off @Scotlandteam at BT Murrayfield, ending Scotland’s winning run.
That was a cracker! 💥#SCOvFRA #AutumnNationsCup pic.twitter.com/9GeNfqxtvf
— Autumn Nations Cup 🏉 (@autumnnations) November 22, 2020
France were now the team on the wrong side of Barnes, with Gregory Alldritt penalised for stopping Scotland getting clean ball as he flopped on a ruck. Weir split the posts again to level the scores.
France then appeared to have let a good attacking opportunity slip when Matthieu Jalibert threw a loose pass but Ramos had other ideas, slicing his way through the Scottish line with a lacerating run that cleared the space for Jalibert to nail a surprise drop-goal.
With the clash effectively a semi-final to decide who will play for the trophy in a fortnight, both teams were taking points whenever they were on offer.
Weir brought the hosts level again after another French tackler found themselves unable to roll out of Ali Price’s way ― only for Matt Fagerson to immediately hand Ramos the chance to boot France back in front with another breakdown infringement.
Weir, however, did fire Scotland level at the break following Alldritt’s knock-on, but only after the Dark Blues defence ― which has shipped just seven tries in the last seven games ― held firm on the line to block a desperate charge from Galthie’s forwards.
It took France just two minutes after the restart to produce the game’s first moment of real quality as Fickou’s offload released Rattez surging through a huge gap before he handed over to Vakatawa to score the opening try.
Scotland responded with Weir’s fifth penalty but holding off the rampant French pack was becoming an ever harder task as Les Bleus grasped the set-piece upper hand.
Ramos continued his flawless evening with the boot to kick another penalty which moved his team seven in front.
France did offer some late hope with a number of sloppy mistakes but Townsend’s team were unable to capitalise. And they were left to sample the bitter taste of defeat for the first time since February when Stuart Hogg’s failure to find the corner with a stoppage-time penalty sealed France’s win.
Check out the video highlights from France's 22-15 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday.
Nineteen-year-old wing Louis Rees-Zammit, showing the finishing ability that brought him 10 tries for Gloucester in England’s Premiership last season, and replacement Rhys Webb crossed in either half.
Jonny May crossed twice to move beyond Jeremy Guscott and into joint second in the all-time red rose try-scoring list alongside Ben Cohen and Will Greenwood with 31 touch downs, leaving only Rory Underwood ahead.
In a tight and unspectacular encounter, Australia impressed on attack — especially in the first half — but they came up against a solid defensive effort from the Pumas.
George was the beneficiary as the home pack struck repeatedly through their line-out drive, reverting to the tactic time and again as their disappointing attack never left first gear.
Gregor Townsend's team made it five straight victories for only the second time in the professional era but for an hour that run looked under serious threat.
Poor discipline and inaccuracy in the execution of their game-plan cost the All Blacks dearly in last week's defeat to the Wallabies and it was a similar story against the Pumas, who dominated for long periods and delivered an outstanding defensive display which paved the way to victory.
Toulouse playmakers Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack outshone Ireland counterparts Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton to assert their status as Europe's top half-back pairing.
Although this was an entertaining encounter, it was marred by ill discipline as both sides finished the match with 14 men after Ofa Tu'ungafasi and Lachie Swinton were red carded in the opening half.
Ben Youngs celebrated his 100th cap by crossing twice, a brilliant second try coming moments after the interval when Eddie Jones' men looked for a response to a ragged and bad-tempered first half.
Gregor Townsend's men also ruined Alun Wyn Jones' world record-breaking day, controlling the majority of the game and ending the campaign on a positive note.
Tries from Karl Tu'inukuafe, Richie Mo'unga (2), Dane Coles, Rieko Ioane and Jordie Barrett saw the All Blacks cruise to a record victory over their rivals.
The Welsh could not build on a flying start that saw them rattle up 10 unanswered points through full-back Leigh Halfpenny's try and a conversion and penalty by fly-half Dan Biggar.
Hugo Keenan bagged a debut brace, with fellow newcomer Will Connors also on the scoresheet.
With Stuart Hogg aiming to complete a trophy double with new European champions Exeter, Fraser Brown was handed the armband on his 51st international appearance and marked the occasion by crossing twice after lineout mauls.
As the scoreline suggests, it was a very different story to a week ago when the sides drew 16-16 in Wellington with New Zealand dominating most facets of play especially during the second half when they produced a brilliant attacking display.
In a drama-filled and exciting contest, both sides scored two tries apiece with Jordie Barrett and Aaron Smith dotting down for the All Blacks while Marika Koroibete and Filipo Daugunu crossed for the Wallabies.
Fabien Galthie’s side touched down in Edinburgh looking to take another step towards their first Championship clean sweep in a decade.