Scotland captain Stuart Hogg on Sunday admitted that he had made a “schoolboy error” after a failure to find touch denied his side the chance of a dramatic draw against France at Murrayfield.
There were already 80 minutes on the clock when Scotland, seven points down and needing a converted try to draw level, were awarded a penalty by English referee Wayne Barnes.
At that stage it was imperative fullback Hogg find touch with his kick to give Scotland the chance of a line-out near the France try line, but his overhit effort went dead, allowing France to run out 22-15 winners, with Les Bleus on course to play in the Autumn Nations Cup final provided they do not suffer a shock Pool B reverse against Italy on Saturday.
Photo: AP
Scotland had been bidding to win a sixth straight Test for the first time since David Sole’s celebrated 1990 Grand Slam team, but it was a case of second time unlucky for the hosts after they denied France a Six Nations Grand Slam at Murrayfield in March — the only defeat Fabien Galthie’s men have suffered this year.
In a match where goal-kickers dominated, powerful France center Viremi Vakatawa scored the only try early in the second half, but France could not put Scotland away, with the hosts in the game right until Hogg’s agonizing mistake.
“Yeah, I made a schoolboy error, it’s as simple that,” Hogg told reporters of his wayward kick. “But look, I thought we played well for 78 minutes of that game. We’re old enough and ugly enough now to realize we’ve made a mistake. I don’t need to be told a million times about it.”
“I thought for 78 minutes of that game we were in control, but, unfortunately, we’ve made a couple of mistakes and you can’t do that in international rugby. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
“We shut France down. They wanted to bring a running game, but all they did was kick to us,” Hogg said. “But the frustrating thing is we know we’re a lot better than that,” he said. “It’s fine people making mistakes, but it’s the fact that sometimes we compound our errors and that’s what cost us. We’ve not turned into a bad team overnight. We know where we’re going wrong and we’re excited about our next challenge.”
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