Murrayfield was on its feet at the end, cheering for the outcome they so desperately wanted. Alas, it was the television match official they were trying to inspire. Trailing by four with time up, Scotland thought Sam Skinner had driven over for the try that would have brought victory.
But the referee, Nic Berry, had decided on the field that the ball was held up. Over to the TMO to find evidence otherwise. Had the on-field decision been positive, there was no evidence of the ball being held up, but neither was there conclusive proof of a grounding, no matter how much the stadium howled.
And so the howling morphed from hope to despair. Scotland beaten in a match they might easily have won, certainly if dominance were the metric. They hardly tore France apart, but they should have been further ahead at the break after a comfortable first half.
France lost their captain, Grégory Alldritt, to injury early in the second half, but the youngsters who conspired to replace him and others in the France pack rose to the occasion in the final quarter to overturn a six-point lead. One moment of brilliance by Louis Bielle-Biarrey on the left wing turned the match with 10 minutes to go.
More agony then for Scotland. That first win in Cardiff for so many years not followed up with victory. Beating England here in a fortnight would keep their interest in this year’s title alive, but it is France who resurrected their own title challenge after a deflating home loss to Ireland last weekend.
The game hardly lived up to expectations. Scotland certainly enjoyed the best of it, their play at times in the first half authoritative and precise. But they let slip a priceless chance to open a significant lead just before the break. And so the game passed them by.
Which is a shame, because they started so well, with a beautiful opening try. Harry Paterson was called up on the morning of the match. The 22-year-old looked confident throughout on his debut. He fielded his first kick from the first play, but a few minutes later was carrying hard off Finn Russell, before hitting the line imperiously later in the same play. Scotland’s hands were sweet, as Duhan van der Merwe came in from the blindside. He put Paterson through the gap, and the full-back turned the ball inside to Huw Jones, who did the same to send Ben White through a tackle to the line.
It was a fabulous try to set Murrayfield alight on a cold, grey day. Better still, the Scottish set piece was looking solid. The lineout was immaculate. France could barely secure any clean ball of their own and surrendered two in that first period. Two Russell penalties outdid a reply by Thomas Ramos to open a 13-3 lead on the half hour.
But that was when France struck. They were not playing well, but their try just past the half-hour was well worked, when Matthieu Jalibert’s long ball sent Gaël Fickou on a run to the corner. Ramos converted from the touchline to take France within three.
Scotland’s big miss followed just before the break, when they forced France into penalty after penalty. Uini Atonio saw yellow for a no-arms charge in an offside position. Scotland called a scrum, from which they could not profit, and then another, at which they were deemed to have gone to ground. Penalty to France. Chance missed.
The lead was eventually extended towards the end of the third quarter by a Russell penalty. But not before France lost Alldritt, who left the field on a stretcher 10 minutes into the second half. With France having just replaced both locks, their experience quotient in the pack was suddenly diminished.
Already without Antoine Dupont, France brought on Nolann Le Garrec at the same time, but the youngsters had something up their sleeves, duly revealed with a mere 10 minutes to play. François Cros had moved to No 8. After he carried blind, Le Garrec fed Bielle-Biarrey. All four of the game’s electric wings had been quiet, but Bielle-Biarrey chose then to change all that.
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He took the ball surrounded by blue shirts and chipped over the lot of them. His white shirt came out of the thicket of blue like a shot to score France’s second. Ramos converted and for the first time France had the lead.
Now the French forwards had their tails up. The lineout had found its rhythm at last. An attacking drive from the latest set up Ramos for his second penalty with only three minutes to play, to take France beyond three points.
Then the denouement. A brilliant run by Kyle Rowe took Scotland into France’s 22 to set up one last tilt at the line. In the fever of the moment, Scotland kept the ball tight, hammering away either side of the ruck. They worked their way to the line, Skinner drove, and Scots appealed furiously for the try.
The referee ruled that it was not grounded. And the inquest began, with the burden of proof on Scotland. Devastation was the verdict.
