'Scotland played the right way' in 35-16 loss to France
Scotland gave it their best in Paris, but eventually France's physicality became too hard to break down, and their clinical attack started to stretch the scoreboard.It meant another fourth-placed finish for Scotland, while France won their first Six Nations since 2022. Here's what our pundits had to say:Former Glasgow Warriors scrum-half Colin Gregor: A three-point deficit at half-time was beyond where I thought Scotland would be. They went toe-to-toe with France in the first half.Whether it was nerves, whether it was all part of the masterplan, I don't know. France's discipline was poor. Fabien Galthie looked livid. It seemed Scotland had gotten under their skin.But as feared, the quality on France's bench, which came on early, they made an impact. There was an increase in intensity, their discipline sharpened right up. They became difficult to break down. Rarely were France stretched.Ex-Scotland prop Peter Wright: I was pretty proud of the way Scotland played. They stuck at it, went out and tried to play the game that could have beaten France.They had a go, moved the ball, played with width. [Blair] Kinghorn had one of his best games. [Duhan] Van der Merwe and [Darcy] Graham looked dangerous.[Finn] Russell will get a lot of criticism for certain things, but I thought he played pretty well and gave Scotland a chance. He varied the game enough to try and hurt the French.Ultimately, France are a better side. There are world-class players all over the pitch, they can bring real quality off the bench and that just adds to the tempo and physicality.Former Scotland back-row Johnnie Beattie on ITV: That's cruel nature of our sport - if Finn Russell kicks his goals at Twickenham, and this game goes down to the wire for a championship, that changes the context.Look at our player participation numbers. France have hundreds of thousands and we have around 20,000 adult players.That is not something Scottish fans will want to hear but when you look at numbers, that is where we are.Scotland's record point-scorer Chris Paterson: That was a massive defensive effort from France. They were quite happy to allow us to have possession, they were quite wide in their defence.We played with some fantastic endeavour and were quite sharp on the ball, but we couldn't break through, get in behind and really stress them.Scotland played the right way, gave ourselves the best opportunity by keeping the ball alive, playing as quick as possible. It wasn't always accurate but it's the right way to go about it.BBC Scotland's chief sports writer Tom English: Galthie sprung the bench very early, and that changed the game. The power and control was awesome.Scotland grew tired. They put an awful lot into the first half, played really well. But when that ferocity is coming at you for another 40 minutes, I don't know how you withstand that. Ireland couldn't.Scotland put an awful lot into this game, really good in places. France are just better.
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