France beat Scotland 18-9 at Murrayfield earlier today, with young powerhouse Mathieu Bastareaud scoring two tries as the French silenced the passionate Murrayfield crowd.
In truth a large portion of the crowd were travelling French, who contributed towards a match that was pretty entertaining throughout, starting with a massive hit after just five seconds.
Aurilien Rougerie made the hit and came off second best, but stayed on only to put in another big tackle shortly afterwards, which saw him leave the field after just four minutes.
Scotland looked good early on, showing enterprise as they attempted to stretch the ball across the park. France's rush defence generally kept them in tact though, and it was the visitors who scored through Bastareaud, who went over for his first Test try.
The powerful twenty one year old scored again later in the half, flying down the left wing as the Scottish defenders stood off him as he went over for his second try.
Johnnie Beattie and Sean Lamont were both outstanding for the Scots, as they looked for work and carried the ball went into contact, with Lamont breaking the line on a few occasions. Unfortunately the gaps he found were quickly closed and the chances never really threatened the line.
Imanol Harinordoquy, who put in a Man of the Match performance for the French, said that it was a tough match that required hard work from beginning to end.
"We are of course very happy to win, it was a very tough match out there. We had to play till the last minute because Scotland play with all their heart. In the scrum we had to have a big performance and I believe we won in that area," he said.
Scotland will be proud of their defensive effort, but they need to turn chances into points if they want to challenge Wales next weekend. France dominated the last quarter of the match and never really looked troubled at any stage. They'll play Ireland next weekend in Paris, while Scotland travel to Wales.
Time:
06:29
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