For an instant, a fleeting second, you couldn’t help but wonder if everything was about to fall apart. Scotland had just pulled off one of those incredible tries following a twisting, scintillating dash by Blair Kinghorn, who started well behind his own 22-meter line and weaved through the defense, side to side, deep into France’s territory.
Matt Fagerson took possession of the ball when suddenly Tom Jordan appeared, easily shaking off Gaël Fickou as though discarding a damp coat, scoring soon after. With France short-handed and Scotland leading by two points, Finn Russell prepared for the conversion attempt. But—pop! The referee, Matt Carley, burst the moment’s excitement by informing Russell that Kinghorn had recently made contact.
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The Scots nearly managed it once throughout the entire match. However, if the French merited winning this championship based on their overall play across all five matches, then the final score of 35-16 made their effort in this last game seem better than it actually was.
It didn’t make things better when it seemed as though the French came more for a coronation than a game. The stadium was equipped with 18 floodlights, 24 flamethrowers, 30 cheerleaders, an A-list DJ, several hundred fireworks, 40,000 flags, one enormous flag covering the entire bottom section of the main stand, and a massive 100-meter long banner unfurled by a crew of a hundred volunteers just before the start of the match.
During halftime, there was a 10-member violin ensemble, along with an army of 36 percussionists. Suspended on a platform high up at 20 meters above the field, Louane performed (you might not know her either), introducing her latest track "Maman." This song has been selected as France's representative for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
When they first planned it, it probably appeared as a solid strategy; however, the television executives might not have contemplated that their side would end up with one player short while maintaining only a slim three-point advantage. The primary issue was that the Scottish team did not appear to relish fulfilling the part assigned to them—acting akin to the Washington Generals facing the Harlem Globetrotters, destined always to lose.
You think it might turn out to be one of those losses that the coaching staff will advise the team members to keep in mind thoroughly. They'll do this so they can draw upon these memories around the same time next year, when France visits Murrayfield.
One of the prominent rugby nations, France, did not showcase their best form during this particular match. Instead, they transformed the game into an 80-minute masterclass in executing rolling mauls. For significant portions of time, the contest looked like a chaotic free-for-all scuffle reminiscent of a rowdy tavern fight breaking out late at night in Montmartre. This served as a stark reminder of another facet of French rugby’s reputation. la bête , less la belle The courteous approach would be to say they pinpointed a vulnerability in Scotland’s maul defense and aimed to take advantage of it, but perhaps it’s more straightforward to acknowledge that they believed their optimal strategy was to physically dominate the Scottish team throughout the first 40 minutes before substituting with a new batch of forwards to repeat this tactic in the second half.
There are multiple ways to approach victory in a rugby match, and Shaun Edwards must have been thrilled with how effectively his squad defended. At least seven players contributed significantly by making over ten tackles each during the game. Particularly impressive was their performance in the second half when Scotland, playing without anything to gain but everything to lose, launched relentless attacks. Despite this pressure, Wales only allowed them to score three points.
Thomas Ramos broke the record first as he secured his initial lead. Within the opening 25 minutes, he successfully executed two penalty kicks and a conversion, enough to surpass Frédéric Michalak and claim the title of his nation's highest points scorer ever. Following suit, Louis Bielle-Biarrey added another achievement when he crossed for a try during the 43rd minute. This marked his eighth try in the tournament, exceeding Jacob Stockdale’s tally from 2017 by one—Stockdale’s prolific year seemingly having amounted to little since then.
The Scottish team might well argue that Bielle-Biarrey matched their player Ian Smith, whose eight tries came in merely two matches against both France and Wales way back in 1925.
Ironically, Bielle-Biarrey’s attempt was successfully executed by Russell, who delivered an exquisite behind-the-hand pass to Darcy Graham. However, Graham failed to connect with the ball. Romain Ntamack then collected the loose ball and sprinted forward before passing it to Bielle-Biarrey for what turned out to be one of the simpler scores. Shortly thereafter, France introduced their imposing substitutes onto the field, leaving Scotland struggling to regain momentum following this setback.
Although one record remained intact, the French must patiently await until Damian Penaud scores another try required to surpass Serge Blanco atop France’s all-time scorers list. This particular contest did not suit Penaud; he found difficulty making an impact and was eventually substituted when Peato Mauvaka received a yellow card for headbutting Ben White, allowing Julien Marchand to step onto the field as a replacement.
Sure, we can hold off on that one, alongside the elusive flying tackles and sparkling line breaks as well as the fleeting off-loads. Having finished runners-up four out of the last five years, the French team will aim for the top spot this year and be content with it, confident that their peak performance is yet to come.