France the best team in the world? Maybe not yet, but they will move up to third in the rankings after this, the leading side in the north. And more importantly for the traditionalists, they remain on course for a grand slam.
The most competitive Six Nations this may be, but France fairly dismantled Scotland in their own lair, a place they have not enjoyed visiting of late. Scotland played with their usual blend of enterprise and menace in the first half, as invigorating a 40 minutes of rugby as this championship has seen, even in this vintage era. But the way they capitulated in the second half revealed the familiar fragility that continues to run through them, a loss of composure when it matters.
For France, though, this was another big stride forward. France may or may not be set to supersede the All Blacks, but this was a performance that bore more than a few similarities with rugby’s paragons. No need for long periods of possession and pressure, when you can absorb, absorb, then play with deadly precision like this. Not that they needed to absorb much at the start.
France burst the game open with two tries of the highest class in the first quarter of an hour. If people are starting to talk about this French team as the best in the world, the maestro at the heart of it is the main reason. Antoine Dupont is almost universally recognised as the player of the moment, anywhere on this benighted planet, and he reminded us why in the eighth minute. Finn Russell’s unconventional chip looked as if it were imaginative and into space, but it brought Dupont onto the ball. He brushed past Darcy Graham, then past Rory Darge, over Ali Price, and suddenly he was into Scotland’s 22, having been in his own only a few seconds earlier.
That was brilliant enough, but France pushed home the advantage with consummate skill. Gael Fickou stepped in as scrum-half twice, Cyril Baille had a rumble, and Julien Marchand sent Paul Willemse crashing over. A fabulous score. Graham brilliantly won the restart, to set up Russell for a successful penalty, but France were over again three minutes later. Melvyn Jaminet won a 50-22, and the handling of France’s midfield from the line-out was sublime, deft, swift and in the faces of Scotland’s defence. Damian Penaud made ground down the right and turned the ball inside, where Baille was brilliant, setting up Yoram Moefana with an inside ball.
France looked settled, 12-3 up so early, but Scotland took over next. They needed to score more than they did, and they were an agonising set of fingertips away from a vital lead at the break. If Scotland have been tested this championship it is in the back row. Here was a brand new unit, after the loss of their first-choice combination. Rory Darge started his first Test, after his debut from the bench the week before, and, after his rude introduction to Dupont, he settled quickly. He was a regular menace at the breakdown and picked a great line for Scotland’s try on the half-hour, after athletic contributions from his mates in the back row.
That brought Scotland to within two points, when the match turned. A brilliant counterattack sparked by Duhan van der Merwe saw Stuart Hogg reaching out for a long pass by Chris Harris, a try the likely outcome for a man of his pace. Alas, he spilled the pass, and that crucial score before half-time went the other way instead.
France won a penalty at the resultant scrum and then another at the lineout, successfully milking for the third time a penalty by holding Cameron Woki in the air longer than seemed necessary. Jonathan Danty sucked in Scotland’s defence from the second lineout, and France had all the space they needed. Fickou ended up exploiting it, running on an arc to the corner.
What could have been a Scotland lead at the break had become in a couple of minutes 19-10 to the French. And that was not the end of it. As the latest team to have beaten the All Blacks, France peddled that knack the perennial best team in the world have made their own – scoring just before and/or after half-time. They had their bonus point less than two minutes into the second half, showing Scotland how to finish a counter. After another Scotland attack broke down, the referee criticising Price for milking a penalty, when Scotland thought he was awarding them one, Penaud was off down the right, chipping ahead. The ball landed in the arms of Danty, who found a clear run to the line - 26-10. That was that. Scotland chasing a game, for all their natural flair and ambition, too often descends into Scottish incoherence.
Scotland came and came again, and France picked them off with ease, particularly at the breakdown, where penalty followed penalty. And tries. Another counterattack on the hour, another try, Darge dispossessed in the tackle, the ball shipped to Penaud for number five. A sixth followed, by Penaud again, from Romain Ntamack’s cross-kick from a lineout, the Scottish defence now completely at sea. The home team did finish with a fine counterattack of their own, leading to a try for Van der Merwe, but it mattered not. The match had long ago escaped them, even if it had seemed tantalisingly within their grasp just before the break. Blink, and the French are gone. Very All Blacks.
