Steyn and Schoeman star as Scotland end France's Grand Slam dreams

MATCH REPORT: Scotland put on a clinical display to end France’s Six Nations Grand Slam hopes and put themselves into contention for the title when they face Ireland next weekend, following an entertaining 50-40 win at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

Prop Pierre Schoeman’s try proved to be a turning point as Scotland took the lead and never relinquished it after being 12-14 down.

Winger Kyle Steyn and Darcy Graham both bagged a brace, with Steyn being named the official Player of the Match.

Both France and Scotland now have 16 points heading into next weekend’s ‘Super Saturday’ round of concluding fixtures.

France will retain their title by achieving a better result against England in Paris than Scotland managed against Ireland in Dublin – unless both lose and Ireland sneaks past to win the Six Nations instead.

Significantly, France’s match kicks off several hours after the Ireland-Scotland encounter, so Les Bleus will know exactly what they need to do in order to be crowned champions.

*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!

The match got off to a fast start with Scotland playing with pace and flair, which resulted in Graham crossing the line for the opening try in the fifth minute with Finn Russell adding the extras.

A turnover ball inside Scotland’s 22 turned into points when Louis Bielle-Biarrey went over in the corner in the 18th minute. Thomas Ramos’ conversion levelled matters at 7-7.

Theo Attissogbe put France in the lead in the 22nd minute for the first time following a grubber kick by wing partner Bielle-Biarrey, as Ramos added the extras.

Scotland replied in turn through Steyn in the 26th minute off a switch play from a line-out maul.

France were warned for their ill-discipline under pressure on the 30-minute mark.

Scotland opted to roll the dice and got the dividends with Schoeman dotting down in the 32nd minute and a yellow card to Matthieu Jalibert following the earlier warning. Russell added the extras.

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Scotland got off to the perfect start in the second half with a try in the 43rd minute when Ben White sniped at the breakdown to go over under the posts and seal the four-try bonus point as Russell’s conversion took it to a 12-point lead.

Steyn bagged a brace in the 50th minute against the run of play after scooping up a loose pass by Antoine Dupont, with Russell slotting the conversion.

The scoring continued when Graham bagged a brace in the 58th minute. Russell added the extras to make it 40-14.

Replacement Lenni Nouchi was sent to the sinbin after referee Angus Gardner warned the French for continuous ill-discipline, as the case was in the first half.

Dupont found himself under pressure inside his in-goal area and floated a forward pass, which gifted Scotland a five-metre attacking scrum, which led to a try to Tom Jordan in the 62nd minute. Russell slotted the conversion.

France started a late comeback with two converted tries by Dupont (66th minute) and Ramos (74th minute).

Russell slotted a late penalty to put a half-century on the board for the hosts with two and a half minutes of play left.

The Russell penalty proved to be vital in denying France a losing bonus point as the visitors had the final say with late scores by Oscar Jegou and Ramos in the final three minutes.

Josh Bayliss was sent to the sinbin for cynically not being back 10 meters off a quickly taken penalty.

Player of the match: Pierre Schoeman was rock solid in the scrum and dominated in all but one set-play on a French feed. He also made the second-most carries (14) behind teammate Jack Dempsey (16), which contributed to Scotland’s fast ball-in-hand approach for the likes of Kyle Steyn and Darcy Graham to work their magic.

Scorers

For Scotland:
Tries: Graham 2, Steyn 2, Schoeman, White, Jordan
Cons: Russell 6
Pen: Russell

For France:
Tries: Bielle-Biarrey, Attissogbe, Dupont, Jegou, Ramos 2
Cons: Ramos 5

Yellow cards: Matthieu Jalibert (France, 32′ – General discipline: repeated infringements), Lenni Nouchi  (France, 58′ – General discipline: repeated infringements), Josh Bayliss (Scotland, 79′ – Cynical foul – Not back 10 metres after a quickly taken penalty)

Teams

Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Josh Bayliss, 22 George Horne, 23 Tom Jordan.

France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Oscar Jégou, 6 François Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Charles Ollivon, 3 Dorian Aldergheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gross.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Thibaud Flament, 20 Emmanuel Meafou, 21 Lenni Nouchi, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Pierre-Louis Barassi

Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland) & Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)