Gelez kicks Scotland into touch as France pile on the agony

France 38 Scotland 3

Lashed by the Irish one Sunday, backlashed by the French the next, Scotland are rapidly becoming this year's Six Nations whipping boys and will enjoy this fortnight break more than any other, if only to let the wounds heal. And there will be plenty, after a mauling by a French side desperate to exorcise the ghouls of Twickenham and keep themselves in with that ghost of a chance of retaining their Championship.

The scary thing was that the home side could motor out of sight – and so equal their biggest victory over the Scots – without ever having to go through their vast sequence of gears. Not that they didn't try to, mind you, with the words of Bernard Laporte still ringing in their ears. By all accounts, Les Bleus' coach did anything but mind his French after England had given his side the slip, and the coach's language would have been just as colourful after a first half that was only a comedy of errors to those who find such inadequacies even slightly amusing.

Ian McGeechan, the beleaguered Scottish coach, certainly did not, especially during that first 40 minutes when France forged a 14-point lead by being utterly average. "At half-time we were disappointed because all the French points had come off our possession," McGeechan said. "We lost so much of our own ball and if you're away from home and haven't got control of that area then you're finished."

That France were able to exploit this was down to their outside-half, François Gelez. Brought in to score the points that Gerald Merceron had squandered eight days previously, Gelez followed the orders to a kicking tee, the Agen provocateur luring Scotland into a trap they could not escape with four first-half penalties. The man of the match gave a flawless performance with his hands as well and the only reason France could not add to their four tries was down to some suspect handling.

Oh, for such attacking deficiencies, McGeechan must have been thinking after Scotland had failed to cross the line for the second weekend running. They have now scored only nine points in 160 minutes in this tournament and are starting to make Wales look like the Harlem Globetrotters.

"Finishing is obviously a problem," McGeechan, somewhat astutely, asserted. "We had opportunities, but the trick is being able to react when you've broken the line."

At least he could content himself that they had not blown as many chances as they had against Ireland, even if it was because they had not created any. There was the occasional break from the wings, Kenny Logan and Chris Paterson, both of whom could hold their heads high after yesterday, but these were the result of France's gay abandon rather than any solid attacking strategy. There was one marvellous piece of skill from Gregor Townsend – who was handed the playmaking duties of the entirely ineffective Brendan Laney on the hour mark – but this was right at the death when Scotland's fate had long been sealed.

In fact, when you consider Scotland's woeful scoring ratio the game was probably gone in the 10th minute when the lock Fabien Pelous squirmed through a ruck for the game's opening try after Gelez and Paterson had earlier exchanged penalties. Neither of those were for any scrummaging offences, an area of transgression that Laporte had become quite paranoid about since his muscle men were repeatedly penalised for pushing upwards against England. He need not have worried here, as his front row barely had to breathe to get their Scottish counterparts on the back foot.

Gelez missed the Pelous conversion but had no problems with the next three penalties – the second for a criminally high tackle by Townsend on Damien Traille – and although France turned around 17-3 to the good there were only Gallic shrugs. If anything the French were trying too hard to be French, running it from everywhere and inevitably over-elaborating.

But they certainly sorted out their try-scoring in the second half. First their sickeningly gifted full-back, Clément Poitrenaud, did the union equivalent of a tap-in when Xavier Garbajosa found him deep inside the Scottish 22 in the 42nd minute after a neat interchange involving Vincent Clerc and Serge Betsen. And then came the moment that this aesthetically obsessed crowd had paid their Euros to see. Again Betsen was involved, the blindside embarking on one of his surging forays upfield before the ball was worked to Gelez. The Scottish defence had closed up quickly on the 24-year-old, but were not reckoning on a beautifully disguised chip over the top that Traille collected with astonishing speed to score under the posts.

Cue the French onslaught with 20 minutes remaining, but with the Scottish back-row still competitive and with Townsend now pulling the strings, the game was tied up in knots which both sides struggled to loosen. Townsend almost did it, with one magic chip of his own that almost put in Kevin Utterson for a debut try with five minutes left, but in his excitement the Borders centre fumbled.

There was time for one last try for the French to savour when their reserve scrum-half, Dimitri Yachvili, showed the talent they have at their disposal with a sumptuous crossfield kick that landed straight into the hands of the wing Aurelien Rougerie. A memorable end to a fortnight Scotland would much sooner forget.

France 38
Tries: Pelous, Poitrenaud, Traille, Rougerie
Cons: Gelez 3
Pens: Gelez 4

Scotland 3
Pen: Paterson

Half-time: 17-3 Att: 80,000

FRANCE: C Poitrenaud (Toulouse); A Rougerie (Montferrand), X Garbajosa (Tou-

louse), D Traille (Pau), V Clerc (Toulouse); F Gelez (Agen), F Galthié (Stade Français, capt); J-J Crenca (Agen), R Ibanez (Castres), S Marconnet (Stade Français), F Pelous (Toulouse), O Brouzet (Montferrand), S Betsen (Biarritz), O Magne (Montferrand), O Harinordoquy (Pau). Replacements: D Auradou (Stade Français) for Brouzet, 66; C Califano (Saracens) for Marconnet, 66; T Castaignède (Saracens) for Clerc, 68; S Chabal (Bourgoin) for Harinordoquy, 72; D Yachvili (Biarritz) for Galthié, 72, J-B Rué (Agen) for Ibanez, 77.

SCOTLAND: G Metcalfe (Glasgow); C Paterson (Edinburgh), G Townsend (Borders), K Utterson (Borders), K Logan (Wasps); B Laney (Edinburgh), B Redpath (Sale, capt); T Smith (Northampton), G Bulloch (Glasgow), B Douglas (Borders), S Murray (Edinburgh), S Grimes (Newcastle), M Leslie (Edinburgh), A Mower (Newcastle), S Taylor (Edinburgh). Replacements: M Blair (Edinburgh) for Redpath, 28-39; J Petrie (Glasgow) for Mower, 40-41; J White (Glasgow) for Murray, 53; A Craig (Orrell) for Laney, 60; G Kerr (Leeds) for Douglas, 61; Petrie for Mower, 70; Douglas for Kerr, 70; Blair for Redpath, 76.

Referee: P Marshall (Aus).