France fullback Thomas Ramos on Sunday scored 17 points to end Scotland’s hopes of a Six Nations Grand Slam with a 32-21 win at the Stade de France.
The loss ended Scotland’s hopes of a first Grand Slam since 1990, after victories over England and Wales in this season’s championship.
Both sides played more than an hour with 14 men after Grant Gilchrist was shown a red card for the visitors and Mohamed Haouas suffered the same fate for the hosts.
Photo: Reuters
Despite Scotland coming back to within four points with 10 minutes to play, France held on for a 32-21 victory by showing their ability to close tight games. Scotland’s hopes of a comeback were ended with 20 seconds left as player of the match Gael Fickou claimed a bonus point for France and Ramos added the extras.
“I was proud of how the players reacted to the situation,” Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said. “I’m disappointed we didn’t take the two or three opportunities.”
“We’ll be highly motivated to play for a trophy at home against Ireland,” he said of the game in Edinburgh on March 12.
Tight-head prop Haouas started instead of the banned Uini Atonio as Fabien Galthie’s home side played their first home game of the year six months out from hosting the Rugby World Cup.
France needed an improved performance after losing to Ireland two weeks ago, their first defeat since July 2021 — and they got it.
“The theme was that we’d fallen and to get back on our feet,” Galthie said. “It was that. We managed to get out of difficult times to then be on top and then go and get the bonus point at the end.”
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