France continued their domination of Scotland on Sunday as two tries for center Mathieu Bastareaud and two penalties and a conversion by Morgan Parra gave them an 18-9 win in their Six Nations opener.
France delivered a solid performance up front and, through powerful center Bastareaud, took their chances when they arrived.
Bastareaud was sent home in disgrace from France’s tour to New Zealand last year after claiming he had been assaulted in the street, before later admitting he had sustained his injuries while falling over after drinking in his hotel.
PHOTO: REUTERS
France showed their intent from the kick-off with a huge hit on Kelly Brown, but it was the tackler Aurelien Rougerie who suffered a knock himself minutes later and had to go off. France had the early pressure, but Scotland then went on the attack and earned a penalty that Chris Paterson landed.
From the restart France threatened again, this time replacement Vincent Clerc chipping and collecting, only for the effort to be thwarted by a tap tackle by Brown and the try-saving strength of Thom Evans, who turned Clerc onto his back.
It only delayed a French try, however, when from a scrum 5m out France attacked off the base and two powerful drives by No. 8 Imanol Harinordoquy sucked in the home defense to allow Bastareaud to score on the overlap.
A penalty apiece by Paterson and Parra kept the margin at two points, but when France won a turnover and swept the ball left to Bastareaud, the powerhouse had little problem in scoring his second try, Parra converting for a 15-6 lead.
The gap widened just after the break with a second penalty by Parra, but again Paterson added points for Scotland with his third success to trim the lead to nine.
France came close to scoring through their forwards with a series of scrums close to the Scotland line, but the Scots, heavily under pressure in the front row, held out.
The French backs showed further glimpses of their finger-tip passing, but for the most part the second half became a slog, with France’s first-half efforts proving decisive.
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