France Player Ratings v Scotland

France Player Ratings v Scotland

It was yet another cracking game in a tournament that has provided so much entertainment.

Scotland's late winner saw them finish fourth in the Six Nations table, while France have to settle for second place behind champions Wales.

Les Bleus not only failed to beat Gregor Townsend's men by 21 points with a bonus point, but were defeated on home soil by the spirited Scots.

Here is how we rated the French players in the 23-27 loss to Scotland.

15. Brice Dulin - 4


 
Not Dulin's finest game this Six Nations. His game could be summed up by one moment early in the first half when he managed to rip the ball away from Ali Price before spilling it forward. 
 
 
A few errors handling the ball and some questionable decisions hurt France, none more than his failure to kick the ball out in the 81st minute.
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Damian Penaud - 8
 
 
 
Wonderfully assisted Brice Dulin for his try before taking his chance superbly. His game of the tournament reminding us just how brilliant his is, not that too many forgot. 
 


13. Virimi Vakatawa - 6
 
 
He had his moments and was rightly replaced in the latter stages of the game. 
 
 
He got smashed by Chris Harris in the first half but wasn't quite able to impact the game enough.
 
 
He did have a moment of magic with a wonderful offload to assist Damian Penaud.
 


12. Arthur Vincent - 6.5
 
 
An early knock-on from a tough line from a lineout. Vincent was another Frenchman who had an up and down game. 
 
 
He was excellent with ball in hand making metres with relative ease but is distribution was a bit suspect. 
 
 
Defensively he was sound.
 
 
 
 
11. Gaël Fickou - 8.5
 
 
 
Simply outstanding. Fickou was effective at wing and centre for Les Bleus. He competed excellently in the air, even picking one off of Stuart Hogg. His wonderful footwork saw him make massive metres from nothing that almost lead to a try for France. 
 
 
Simply the best player on the park and rightly named man of the match. Unfortunately, that comes with the post-match interview. Joe Launchbury understands Gael.
 
 
 
10. Romain Ntamack - 7
 
 
Not quite at his best as he showed uncharacteristic nerves for a player who looked like a veteran outhalf last year. The service he received was also not up to its usual standard. Solid but he was out kicked by the Scots.
 
 
 
 
9. Antoine Dupont - 6
 
 
Looked unusually sluggish. His passes weren't quite as accurate as they usually are while he did make the odd decision or two including a chip over the top with France attacking in a threatening position. 
 
 
By his standards this was not a great game, although he did improve as it wore on.
 
 
 
 
1. Cyril Baille - 7
 
 
Brilliant at scrum time and a tank around the park clearing out rucks, defending well and doing all the hard graft for his side. Quickly becoming one of the premier loosehead props in the Northern Hemisphere. 
 
 
2. Julien Marchand - 7.5
 
 
A few lineout darts crucially didn't go to his intended target, particularly the one before half time. Around the pitch he hardly put a foot wrong beating defenders with ease, contesting the breakdown and starring on defence. 
 
 
3. Mohamed Haouas - 8
 
 
Worked Sutherland over in the scrum but gave away a penalty as soon as starting loosehead was replaced. Tackler well and impacted with ball in hand.
 
 
 
4. Bernard Le Roux - 6.5
 
 
Le Roux had a number of bright early involvements but a niggling injury meant that he was pulled off just 10 minutes after the break. He was sharp on defence and pressured the breakdown well. 
 
 
5. Swan Rebbadj - 7
 
 
Managed to disrupt the Scottish maul on multiple occasions, one of which working against him as the bounce of the ball fell in Scotland's favour for Cherry's score. He ran a nice line to hit back and put France back into the lead. He was afforded a chance with Willesme suspended and he took it with both hands. 
 
 
 
6. Anthony Jelonch - 7
 
 
Involved in just about everything. Huge on defence, drawing in multiple defenders with his carries. Not much wrong with his game and could become a pivotal member of the squad. 
 
 
 
 
7. Charles Ollivon - 7
 
 
Hardly seems to have a bad game in the Les Bleus jersey. Friday was no different. Huge defensively but was outfoxed at times calling the lineout. 
 
Spoke to Barnes well too and distributed nicely on the attack.
 
 
 
8. Grégory Alldritt - 7
 
Never gave up and continued to run the hard lines and put his head into the dark places in the ruck. 
 
 
 
 
Replacements: 16. Camille Chat (6), 17. Jean-Baptiste Gros (6.5), 18. Uini Atonio (5), 19. Romain Taofifenua (4), 20. Dylan Cretin (6), 21. Baptiste Serin (n/a), 22. Anthony Bouthier(n/a), 23. Teddy Thomas (5)

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