EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Scotland blew open the Six Nations title race after an astonishing 50-40 win against France at Murrayfield on Saturday.
An estimated 15,000 French supporters came to see their team retain the title with a game to spare but France was beaten up at the gainline and cut to pieces out wide by a fearless Scotland side whose every gamble appeared to pay off.
Instead of France marching to a Grand Slam, Scotland was in position to win the title for the first time since 1999, when it was the Five Nations.
France and Scotland were tied at the top of the table on points, two ahead of Ireland, which has also come back into contention.
France still has the advantage in the final round next Saturday. Scotland plays Ireland in Dublin and France follows knowing what it has to do against England in Paris in the last match of the championship.
“Considering how this tournament started for us ( lost to Italy 18-15 ), we believe now, the tournament is not over for us,” Scotland’s Sione Tuipulotu told the BBC. “I could not be prouder to be captain of this team. We’ve got ourselves an opportunity next week.”
An extraordinary day for Scotland started with a sunny afternoon in Edinburgh. Scotland dazzled in its highest ever score against a flattered France with seven of the game’s 13 tries.
It should have been even better. Scotland led 47-14 but allowed France to score four tries in the last 14 minutes to secure a try bonus point and boost its points difference in the table, both important in the context of the title race.
“That game was crazy,” Scotland two-try-scorer Darcy Graham told the BBC. “You know what (France) are like, such a big unit, such a quality team, and we knew what they’d bring today and we did well to stop it. It’s a special win for us.”
France had been untested and unflappable but came to Murrayfield duly worried. Gregor Townsend’s Scotland had won five of 13 games against France. Both teams like to roll the dice and France was behind inside five minutes.
The French buried Ireland, Wales and Italy early with dominant starts but, for the first time in the championship, they trailed when a break by Huw Jones was finished by Graham, his 36th try making him Scotland’s sole record try-scorer.
“It was all about making sure we fired the first shot,” Scotland player of the match Kyle Steyn said. “I was more worried about how much we were celebrating. We needed to get our feet on the ground and keep going.”
France was sloppy until captain Antoine Dupont stripped counterpart Tuipulotu in the Scottish 22 and the ball flashed wide for left winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey to touch down in a record-extending ninth consecutive Six Nations match.
Moments later, Bielle-Biarrey set up fellow winger Theo Attissogbe to score. With Thomas Ramos typically lethal off the tee, France was 14-7 ahead and seemingly back on track.
But four of Scotland’s tries came after waiving off kickable penalties, and the first was finished by winger Steyn from a classic scissors move. Then prop Pierre Schoeman crashed over to regain the lead in the 32nd at 19-14 and France trailed at halftime in the Six Nations for the first time since the Murrayfield game two years ago.
Scrumhalf Ben White started the second half with Scotland’s bonus-point fourth try from an unguarded ruck and Townsend punched the air.
White then jolted Dupont’s pass into the hands of Steyn, who ran 55 meters untouched for his second try.
Murrayfield was ecstatic and France was disintegrating and on a second yellow card warning. The first warning put playmaker Matthieu Jalibert in the sin-bin before halftime and the second caught Lenni Nouchi collapsing a maul.
By then Graham scored his second try of the match and 37th for Scotland from an offload by Blair Kinghorn. Then Tom Jordan flew over between the posts and Russell’s sixth conversion made it 47-14.
Desperation and embarrassment drove France to finish strong. Tries by Dupont, Ramos (twice) and Oscar Jegou gave the visitors an undeserved gloss to the scoreline. Jegou faced a potential post-match citing for a hand in the eye of Scotland’s Ewan Ashman.
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