The Gregor Townsend verdict as France win sets up Six Nations title finale

Scotland played brillantly on 3 aspects less discussed:

-the sun: they chose the right side to nullify France’s strong starts. Ramos’ first knock on put them in a bad position, and it seemed like all France’s attacks were forced to be done on the sun’s side of the pitch.

In the second half, the Scots put all the power when they were supposed to work against and overwhelmed the French team with speed.

-the mindset: Galthié talked about the smaller than referees’ locker room. Townsend picked it up and motivated his team.

-the unusual French messed up discipline: brain rots like Cros’, Marchand’s, Jegou’s… It was things well known before Galthié’s era. It felt like watching the 2012-2019 team. Of course, there were some incidents like Haouas against the Scots (twice), but not smaller idiotic faults. Especially from players who usually avoid these kind of behaviors.

Finn is the man! He should be the best #10 in this hemisphere with his age profile and experience setting him apart

Totally iconic with his cheeky smile, laid back nature and frankly alarming pot belly

The late French bonus PT has maybe done for them though. Just took their eye off it the last 5 mins. I can see them getting the win in Dublin but it may just be a triple crown for them this year

The Scots have been building to this. They showed glimpses in the Autumn series and have now put on two clinics at home on how to play with speed. They have a good sized pack and going 6-2 means they can sustain pressure. Also I think the French have been overhyped because of their win against a poor Ireland. All the talk of them being clear No 2 and marching up to SA was clearly premature. And I think they are paying for not travelling with their top players to the SH. But against that, what it also shows is how good the 6N is. This is great preparation for the 6N teams for the WC next year.

Good win by Scotland. France panicked in the middle section with a few intercept tries. Dupont’s attempt to draw three players towards him before throwing long was worth a try for France in Twickenham last year but this year was worth a 5m scrum and Scottish try. Russell was masterful again. Two key penalties for tackling without the ball was from him dummying at last spilt second when he sensed the French player was going to tackle the receiver.

Townsend has handled himself with class this year. An English interviewer was trying to dampen his day by de facto mocking him for losing to Italy. He pointed out that it was a very Strong Italian team and Scotland rallied strongly in that match and after.

Intriguing match in Dublin. After Scotland’s huge high against England they came down versus Wales. After a narrow win over Italy Ireland rose in the next match. Likely same after Wales but they will need any advantage they can get to beat Scotland.

Scotland played the perfect game against the French.

The French start fast in the first third, slump in the middle third and then finish strong with their bench in the final third.

I put this down to the size of the French pack and the fact that they have come to rely on their bench. I think it’s made them lazy.

The Scots mostly neutralized the French in the first, keeping close to them on the scoreboard. They capitalized in the middle third - outscoring the French and leaving them with too much to do in the last third. When the French did come alive again and score some easy tries.

It’s a very clear pattern that’s emerged with the French. They simply don’t have the cardio in their pack to play 50 minutes with intensity. They defend more and more narrowly during the slump amongst their forwards. Had Scotland gone wide more often, they could have put a few more on the French in that middle period.

France must work on their forwards cardio fitness. They’re big, but they’re not fit enough.

What a final day upcoming!