Rugby – Scotland v France, U20 6 nations
Scotland’s fourth round match in the U20 6 Nations Championship was played under the gathering cloud of the Covid-19 virus ‘situation’ with France as their latest opponents. Coming off the back of a dominant performance, but a loss, against England and a win in the previous round against Italy, hopes in the Scots’ camp were high that this could be the turning point in this year’s tournament.
The match started at a
blistering pace with both sides putting pressure on the opposition,
but, with both defences being up to the mark, a kicking battle ensued
to establish some territorial dominance.
France probably had the
better of the early exchanges, but once the home side got a bit of
sustained possession, they looked equally dangerous on the break.
The first points came after 17 minutes when an offside penalty from a close-in line out gave the Scots a chance to open the scoring, Nathan Chamberlain doing the honours for 3-0.
A poor clearance kick
soon after the restart, left the French with a good position to
launch an assault on the Scottish defence and the ball was whipped
out to the left wing where their No. 8, Jordan Joseph was waiting.
He then blasted up the
line, swiping the final tackle aside to dive over for the try.
Centre, Joris Moura, then converted for 3-7 after 20 minutes.
A soft penalty a few
minutes later landed Moura his second successful kick of the game for
3-10 with 15 minutes of the half left.
Scotland then came
roaring back into the game and drove deep into the French 22. The
pack did their bit to hold the defence in close, before the back
division went in for the kill. The ball was slung across the field
and the final ball to Rufus McLean, saw the wing over in the corner.
Chamberlain then made amends for his earlier loose clearance with a superb touch line conversion for 10-10 after 28 minutes.
Then it was France’s
turn to pressurise the Scots. Pushing the defence back with a running
and passing drive, a penalty for a high tackle, and subsequent kick
to touch, gave them field position in the home 22. Driving at the
line, the final offload to Erwan Dridi put the full back in for the
points.
Moura then followed up
with the conversion for 10-17 after 32 minutes.
In what was looking
like it might become to be a try-fest, Scotland were next on the
board another two minutes down the line.
A breakdown penalty put
the home side within a few metres of the French line and the
following catch and drive took play into the centre of the pitch. The
ball went out from hooker, Ewan Ashman, to Roan Frostwick.
Frostwick then popped
the ball up for wing, Jacob Henry, leaving the No. 11 with a straight
run in under the posts. Chamberlain then knocked the conversion over
for 17-17 as the sides went into the break.
France possibly had the
better of the early exchanges in the second half, causing a bit of
trouble in the opposing defence, but also managing to resist a Scots’
attack, before clearing upfield.
Their break came from a
quick tap penalty which immediately put the Scots’ defence on the
back foot and from there, the defence was scrambling.
With play bunched
centre-field the, what looked like, inevitable try came from a
cross-field kick into the goal area from their 10, which was chased
through and dotted down by wing, Nathanael Hulleu for 17-22 after 48
minutes.
The French continued to have the upper hand over the next period of play, despite a missed penalty from Moura, but Scotland blew their best chance with a poor line out drive off the top of a five metre set-up.
When the subs starting
to appear, then France began to dominate the scrum and open play.
They had to wait,
however, until the 67th minute before adding to their
tally.
The Scottish pack was
blasted apart from home-side, 5-metre scrum, the drive taking play up
to the line. Now over the ball, lock, Joshua Brennan had the, fairly,
easy task of picking it up and falling over the line for the
bonus-point try.
Stand off, Thibault
Debaes, then slotted home the conversion for 29-17 with seven minutes
left on the clock.
And, for the home
support, what a seven minutes. With France down to 14 from the
restart, Scotland piled on the pressure, but, despite three close in
penalties in the time, they could only come up with one try –
unconverted – when Ashman was driven over for 29-22.
Another late surge came
to naught for the Scots when, with seconds left on the clock, a
‘crossing’ penalty gave France the ball and the 29-22 win after a
tough contest.
The final result was
slightly overshadowed by the news that one of the Scottish women’s
side had tested positive for Covid-19 and was under medical
supervision. She was reported to be doing well, but another seven of
the squad and backroom staff have self-isolated themselves as a
precautionary measure.
As a result of this
development, the match, due to be played at Scotstoun on Saturday
evening has been postponed until a later date.
Images from the match will appear here over the next few days