France happy to get back on their feet with Scotland win

PARIS: France were not back to their brilliant best but their 32-21 victory over Scotland at the Stade de France on Sunday (Feb 26) that kept them in contention for the Six Nations title was enough to satisfy coach Fabien Galthie.

Les Bleus almost blew a 19-0 lead after both sides were reduced to 14 men following red cards for Scotland lock Grant Gilchrist and France prop Mohamed Haouas in the opening 13 minutes.

Yet they managed to score four tries to secure a bonus point and deprive their opponents of one, which left both teams on 10 points, level with England and five behind Ireland.

"We have not let that trophy go yet," said Galthie after his team recovered from their 32-19 defeat in Dublin against Ireland in the previous round.

"Two years ago we lost here against Scotland and this time we went for the bonus point and we took the bonus point away from them. It was 5-0."

Galthie was happy his team were back in contention after suffering a confidence-shaking first defeat in 15 tests.

"Getting back on our feet after falling down, that's what we wanted, that was the idea of this game for us," he said.

"We had tough moments but we managed to have them followed by very strong moments and we can be happy about that."

Captain Antoine Dupont, who set up Gael Fickou for a last-minute try, drew positives from the clash.

"There is a lot of satisfaction," he said.

"We were solid in defence against a very dangerous side, so we can be happy about our performance."

Charles Ollivon added: "We suffered but stuck together and we never doubted ourselves."

Scotland, who beat France on their previous visit to Paris two years ago, were left with a bitter taste in their mouths.

"We felt like we could win that. After a really tough start, we got back