France v Scotland
Les Bleues in springtime rugby means entertainment.
Things started cruelly for Scotland when Hollie Cunningham was forced off with a leg injury; just one minute played.
They responded by dominating play for a short while, showing the fluency they possess, but not consistently enough. All too often they were pinged for holding on; the support not there in time.
When France won their first penalty they pointed straight at the posts. Morgane Bourgeois obliged. 3-0
In reply the Scots kicked the ball dead; it proved a costly error; they were heaved off the ensuing scrum, Pauline Bourdon Sansus did her familiar wrap-around move, and Carla Arbez shimmied over under the posts. (10-0) Where was the cover defence?
Even worse, scrum superiority gave Bourgeois her second penalty from in front. 13-0
When the Scots finally fought their way back inside the French 22, they lost a line-out.
This was to prove an ongoing weakness.
France were stringing the off-loads together. Forunately for their opponents the last one tended to prove one risk too many. That is the nature of their game.
At last Scotland found their rhythm, linking well, but French defences were unremitting, often blasting the ball-carrier back into the Atlantic soil.
As the break approached, Scottish perseverance was rewarded. Lisa Thomson hacked a French knock-on through; Emma Orr chased, hacked again and won the touchdown.
Half-time 13-7
It had been nearly all France, but that late response brought hope to the visitors. The game was still in the balance.
On the restart the Scots were almost over, but a final dink through by Thomson couldn’t be taken cleanly by Orr as she dived over the line under pressure.
.
The one cautious aspect of French play was their option at penalties. Bourgeois went for goal yet again. (16-7) She was still 100% in the campaign. Monserrat Amédée made two fine half-breaks, but the Scottish defence somehow held out.
On 50 minutes came a magic moment from PBS. She received a deep pass back, looked up and hit a 35-metre drop-kick sweet as a nut. It sailed over. 19-7
The match was slipping further away from the Scots, but Fran McGhie cut back infield with menace. This earned a penalty in front which Helen Nelson popped over. 19-10
Just as huge numbers of replacements came on, France scored through Teani Feleu. PBS weaved her way forward to set the No 8 free with a brilliant off-load from the deck. 26-10
It makes you wonder whether it’s sensible to make so many changes all at once – disruption to defensive patterns seems all too likely. Feleu’s direct opponent, Jade Konkel, had just left the field. This may well have been the plan all along – Konkel still recovering from a long lay-off, but it put the hosts beyond likely reach.
They still had targets in mind. For all their success, they had mounted only two tries in those 26 points (3 penalties, 1 drop). They had to achieve a try-bonus.
They did. A wondrous off-load by Kelly Arbey over her shoulder put Séraphine Okemda through on the far right. Bourgeois missed her first kick of the campaign. 31-10
Les Bleues were on the rampage now. At one breakdown near the line, Scotland had no defenders at all on one side, but France took the other route and scored anyway. Bourgeois made up for her momentary lapse by dummying and falling over the line. That made 6/7 successful kicks. 38-10
Scotland did well to come back strongly, McGhie dancing past tackles. They won a penalty advantage, but just as Thomson overcooked a diagonal, Lauren Jenner called “advantage over”, and skipper Rachel Malcolm went down injured. No score. It was that sort of day for them.
As the clock went red they won a penalty to the corner. On 81 minutes Elis Martin scored their second try through a perfect catch & drive, but the French bench was already celebrating a sweeping win.
Result: France 38 Scotland 15
Player of the Match: Manaé Feleu (and not Pauline Bourdon Sansus! The French TV experts are too familiar with PBS’s skills)
Referee: Lauren Jenner (FIR)
Atendance: c. 15,000
Teams
France
1 Yllana Brosseau 2 Manon Bigot 3 Rose Bernadou 4 Manaé Feleu (co-captain) 5 Madoussou Fall Raclot 6 Charlotte Escudero 7 Séraphine Okemba 8 Teani Feleu 9 Pauline Bourdon Sansus 10 Carla Arbez 11 Melissande Llorens Vigneres 12 Monserrat Amédée 13 Marine Ménager (co- captain) 14 Kelly Arbey 15 Morgane Bourgeois
16 Elisa Riffonneau 17 Ambre Mwayembe 18 Clara Joyeux 19 Kiara Zago 20 Axelle Berthoumieu 21 Léa Champon 22 Alexandra Chambon 23 Lina Queyroi
Scotland
1 Anna Young 2 Lana Skeldon 3 Elliann Clarke 4 Hollie Cunningham 5 Sarah Bonar 6 Rachel Malcolm 7 Rachel McLachlan 8 Jade Konkel 9 Leia Brebner-Holden 10 Helen Nelson 11 Francesca McGhie 12 Lisa Thomson 13 Emma Orr 14 Rhona Lloyd 15 Chloe Rollie
16 Elis Martin 17 Leah Bartlett 18 *Molly Poolman 19 Adelle Ferrie 20 *Beth Boyd 21 Alex Stewart 22 Caity Mattinson 23 Evie Wills
*uncapped
Afterthoughts
This was another splendid day in French sunshine, with a huge crowd massed on all four sides.
Nine out of every ten statements the referee made ended with “okay?” It’s high time all referees trained themselves to cut that word out of their vocabulary. What purpose is it meant to serve? If it’s meant to ask “Have you understood?”, the answer may well be “no”.
There was an interesting moment when an AR gave a line-out on the end of a Nelson kick to touch; the TMO overruled her and took play back. Surely this is a case where the TMO should not be intervening. It makes the AR, right on the spot, look very stupid.
Les Bleues can feel more confident about their progress now. Despite missing some important players (eg Sochat, Vernier, the elder Ménager, Deshayes and Jacquet), they showed more than a few glimpses of their quality. But their approach puts great strain on accuracy.
For Scotland it was another case of so near and yet so far.
