Here's where it gets sticky for Scotland
It was only a warm-up game. And it was only a heavily rotated France fielding almost none of their heaviest hitters. But by the way Murrayfield shuddered and swayed as Scotland dug in against the final French onslaught, by how Gregor Townsend bellowed with joy in the coaching box as Ben O’Keeffe blew for a Scottish penalty at the death, it could have been a World Cup final.
If ever a match encapsulated the madcap nature of Scottish rugby, it was this one. A team just as capable of shooting the lights out as they are shooting themselves in the foot. A meek first-half showing devoid of possession and cohesion, peppered with sloppy passes, bungled lineouts and average kicking. A second forty with pretty much all the elements that will be needed to escape the most ferocious of World Cup pools in a month’s time.
Scotland cannot play as poorly as they did in the opening half and expect to live with any of the game’s elite, least of all South Africa’s irrepressible power or Ireland’s multi-phase cyanide. Equally, should they deliver the kind of rugby that had France flailing thereafter, they have enough ammunition to challenge either of the beasts they must slay to reach the quarter-finals.
The panache of the second half should not expunge the pallor of the first. After a sprightly opening, which yielded a Finn Russell penalty, Scotland fell into a weird stupor. A kind of funk they seemed incapable of shaking. They could not generate go-forward or gain a territorial foothold. By the interval, they had shipped three tries, lost several lineouts, failed to make a single line break and been dynamited on the floor by an athletic French pack. Of the ruck ball France generated, 86 per cent of it was recycled in under three seconds. The territory figure was 61:39 in the visitors’ favour.
Remember, this was not the France of the Six Nations. The glittering winning machine which swept each of rugby’s major nations aside en route to 19 straight victories. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Japan and each of the Tier One European opponents were scalped in that time. Only Ireland, on the Grand Slam trail, halted Fabien Galthie’s crashing tsunami. France fielded almost none of their front-liners in Edinburgh. The superhuman Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack were not utilised. Baptiste Couilloud, starting in place of Dupont, is probably Galthie’s third-choice scrum-half. The top-tier centres, Jonathan Danty and Gael Fickou, did not feature. Damien Penaud – by common consent, the best wing in the northern hemisphere – was left out. Cyrille Baille, Julien Marchand and Uini Atonio, Galthie’s premier front-row unit, was nowhere to be seen. Charles Ollivon, the back-row talisman, was a spectator. So were the enormous Gregory Alldritt, Anthony Jelonch, another destroyer, galloping lock Thibaud Flament, and points accumulator Thomas Ramos.
In their stead, a much-changed French team, callow in some quarters, took Murrayfield by storm. So much upheaval, so many months since their last international, on the final day of the Six Nations in March, and yet they found gears Scotland could not.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey was the most eye-catching new face, the 20-year-old Bordeaux-Begles flyer helping set up Couilloud for a beautiful opener and slicing Scotland open to bag a second France try on his Test debut. Word is, Bielle-Biarrey has clocked sound barrier-smashing times of over 39kph in training – faster, even, than his illustrious colleague, Penaud. In France, they call him ‘the electric scooter’.
Emilien Gailleton, another 20-year-old in his first international, shimmered too. In a labouring Pau team, Gailleton scored 14 tries in 24 Top 14 matches last season.
With its immense television deal, thriving second tier, JIFF quota system, rampant Under-20s and vibrant public following, French rugby is in the rudest of health. Shiny new products are plopping off their production line by the boxload. Galthie has a vast pool from which to select his World Cup 33, and to carry into the next four-year cycle. Scotland go to France next weekend and will likely face an entirely different, and substantially more
familiar, home side.
Concern now turns from Scotland’s tame start to Zander Fagerson’s jittery future. Disciplinary penance beckons for the tight-head prop after his red card for a dangerous clear-out on Pierre Bourgarit. Fagerson’s charge was not malicious, but in failing to lever Bourgarit legally off the ruck, instead clattering him about the face with a giant arm, he was always doomed.
Fagerson is Scotland’s hardest forward to replace. In every other position in the pack, Townsend has options, bountiful and reliable in most cases. At tight-head, 37-year-old WP Nel is Fagerson’s back-up. Save the genius of Russell, Fagerson is the player Townsend would least like to lose.
And here’s where it gets sticky. For the big man has previous. He was sent off for a similar clear-out against Wales two years ago and Scotland’s players did not exactly take the sanction quietly. While in both cases, Fagerson had no intent to hit the ruck dangerously, it will be hard for him to earn the customarily generous mitigation.
He got four games, reduced from six, for his collision with Wyn Jones. Scotland have two more warm-up matches before their pool opener against the Springboks. These will be anxious days for Fagerson. His World Cup fate dangles in the balance.
“We just have to hope the judiciary see the same as we see,” Townsend said post-match.
“I’ve seen the incident again and he does adjust his feet [unlike in the previous case against Wales]. There wasn’t much speed, it wasn’t reckless, he just didn’t get under Bourgarit’s chest, which can happen in the 200 ruck clears or whatever happen in the game.
“I hope they see there was nothing reckless in there, nothing out of control, it was just a timing issue in how he couldn’t get under the jackaler.”
Midway through the first half, Townsend was shorn of Ben White. An ankle injury forced the scrum-half to the sidelines. White has cemented his place as Scotland’s premier number nine and any lay-off would be cruel and costly.
“Ben is much more positive now,” Townsend went on. “It was an area he had an issue with at the beginning of our World Cup camp but he’s been training fully for six weeks. He is off to hospital just to make sure there is nothing in the scan. It might be he struggles to play this week but hopefully he will be available for the World Cup.”
Such is the fraught business of these matches. A player may fear tournament-scuppering injury more than defeat. But he can make himself undroppable too. Townsend reckons no more than 10 places in his final 33-strong squad are up for grabs, a week-and-a-half before the final cut are confirmed on 16th August. He fielded his strongest-possible XV against the French and none of the incumbents did much to harm their cause.
In fact, Dave Cherry, a second-half replacement, has given Townsend something to think about. Cherry doesn’t have the explosiveness of George Turner or Ewan Ashman on open prairie, but he is arguably Scotland’s finest set-piece hooker. The lineout improved after his introduction. An average of close to five metres per run is decent going too. And he was shrewd enough to squeeze home off the back of a trundling maul for what proved the winning try.
Darcy Graham continued his scintillating return from a long spell on the treatment table. If you were picking a World XV tomorrow, the fearsome little Borderer would be bang in contention. There can be few players anywhere in the world with Graham’s power-to-weight ratio, never mind his bewitching footwork and top-end speed. The gallus streak which courses through so many top athletes forever burns to the fore with Graham. He makes yards he simply should not. He bamboozles tacklers who really ought to bury him. He can run down the darkest of alleyways and find the tiniest chink of light.
Graham, scuttling on to a deft Russell crosskick, sparked the Scottish revival three minutes into the second half. He finished with 83m from his 15 carries – only Brice Dulin ran with the ball more times – beat five Frenchmen and took his incredible try tally to 19 in his past 16 matches for club and country. What a precious asset he will prove in France.
Duhan van der Merwe did not score, but did nothing to suggest his mighty impact is waning. The slew of aching French defenders bludgeoned by the juggernaut will attest to that. Blair Kinghorn lanced smartly into the line, seeming more at ease in his old full-back role than in the more recently adopted fly-half berth. The Graham-Kinghorn-Van der Merwe axis looks every inch Townsend’s go-to back-three.
The replacements – especially Cherry and Rory Darge – brought the required levels of energy and grit, five of them emptied off the bench soon after Fagerson’s dismissal.
“We showed much more of who we are in that second half, both in attack and defence,” Townsend said.
“To do it with one fewer player for the majority of the second half is going to be really positive for the players’ level of belief. We know we have got to improve a lot more ahead of next week.”
For Scotland to overturn a 21-3 half-time deficit gives them lungfuls of belief. That they did so with 14 men for 27 of the final 40 minutes was all the more heartening. It was a warm-up game, against weakened opposition, but it didn’t feel like one. It won’t in a week’s time either when Galthie unshackles his big dogs on their own patch. This is how it should be. Maybe this is how it has to be, if Scotland are to pull off the spectacular in September.
The challenges only get tougher from here.
Comments on RugbyPass
“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
37 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
5 Go to comments