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Former Bristol captain Matt Salter dies aged 49
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Title contending Scotland shock France to shake established Six Nations order
By PA
Scotland put themselves in contention for a first-ever Guinness Six Nations title with a sensational seven-try 50-40 victory over France at Murrayfield.
Les Bleus arrived in Edinburgh knowing a bonus-point win over Gregor Townsend’s men would have sealed them a second consecutive championship and teed them up for a first Grand Slam since 2022.
But it was the rampant Scots who produced one of their greatest-ever performances to blow Fabien Galthie’s team away.
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Wings Darcy Graham and Kyle Steyn both scored doubles, while Pierre Schoeman, Ben White and substitute Tom Jordan also crossed.
The only blemish for the Scots, who led 47-14 at one point, was that they allowed the French to score four tries in the final quarter of an hour to make the scoreline more respectable.
The French remain top of the table on points difference ahead of their showdown with England in Paris next Saturday night, but the second-placed Scots will head to Ireland with a chance of making history if Steve Borthwick’s men can do them a favour.
Scotland made the perfect start when Graham was fed by Finn Russell and darted through a gap to score on the right in the fifth minute. Russell converted.
The try was Graham’s 36th at Test level, edging him ahead of Edinburgh team-mate Duhan van der Merwe at the top of the national team’s all-time scoring charts.
It was the first time France had found themselves behind on the scoreboard in this year’s championship. After weathering some further Scottish pressure, Les Bleus drew level in the 18th minute.
Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu had the ball ripped from his grasp by Antoine Dupont and the French worked it out to the left where Matthieu Jalibert slipped in the lethal Louis Bielle-Biarrey to score. Thomas Ramos converted.
Things looked ominous for the hosts when the visitors went ahead with their second try in the space of four minutes as Bielle-Biarrey’s grubber kick sent fellow wing Theo Attissogbe bounding over, with Ramos again adding the extras.
But Scotland stemmed the tide and got themselves back into it when George Turner flipped the ball into the hands of Steyn, who hit a delightful inside line to the left corner. Russell was off target with his conversion.
Scottish tails were up again and, after a sustained spell of pressure in front of the French line, Schoeman pushed over on the right. There was further reason for cheer among the home support as Jalibert was yellow-carded for going offside, with the French penalised for persistent infringements. Russell was on point with the conversion.
The Scots were unable to increase their five-point lead while Jalibert was in the sin-bin, but they did notch again within seconds of the French stand-off’s return to the field as White scored with a classic scrum-half snipe, converted by Russell.
The rampant hosts tightened their grip in the 51st minute when France captain Dupont, under pressure from White, threw the ball straight to Steyn, who sprinted clear on the left.
Graham then wriggled free for his second of the match just before the hour, with French replacement Lenni Nouchi sin-binned for jumping offside. This time the Scots made the extra man count as substitute Jordan clattered over the line just inside the post in the 64th minute.
As it stood at that point Scotland were heading top of the table, but just as they looked to be coasting towards the ideal result, it all got a bit ragged for Townsend’s men.
France scored four tries in the closing stages – through Dupont, Ramos (twice) and Pierre Louis Barassi – to secure an all-important bonus point and keep their noses in front ahead of a mouth-watering Super Saturday shootout for the title between Les Bleus, Scotland and Ireland.
