A late try by Damien Traille handed France an undeserved 16-9 victory over Scotland in their Six Nations opener at the Stade de France in Paris today.
Scotland led for all but the last five minutes with Chris Paterson scoring all their points but played the last 10 minutes with 14 men as Jon Petrie was sin-binned and then Hugo Southwell had his kick charged down leading to Traille's try.
Scotland were awarded a penalty in the second minute and Paterson slotted it over from around 30 metres out.
The French replied with a neat blindside attack that saw Christophe Dominici make a surging run into the 22 but was tackled into touch just short of the line by Paterson.
Yann Delaigue was unable to bring the hosts level when they were awarded a penalty in the seventh minute as his effort went just wide of the posts.
Scotland enjoyed a period of pressure down in the French 22 but came away with nothing as a Paterson attempt at a drop goal went wide and the Scottish fullback missed with a penalty attempt a few minutes later.
The French were unable to settle into any sort of rhythm and were further disrupted when Aurelien Rougerie was forced off after going down in a tackle by Gordon Bulloch and was replaced by Ludovic Valbon winning his second cap.
Delaigue's lack of kicking for goal at his club Castres showed again when he missed a kickable penalty in the 27th minute from in front of the posts as Scotland continued to dominate.
The restive crowd's frustration with the hosts boiled over five minutes from half-time when Damien Traille replaced Delaigue in taking a penalty and saw it barely get off the ground.
Scotland increased their lead deservedly in the 38th minute as Paterson stroked over a penalty after a fine individual run by Chris Cusiter had penetrated deep into French territory.
The French raised some hope for the second half when on the stroke of half-time they put some pressure on the Scots with Dominici active in the move but the visitors eventually got the ball and cleared the danger.
Such was their joy at holding the lead going into the break that at the half-time whistle fly-half Dan Parks ran round manically and slapped each member of the team on their backs.
The French were welcomed back on to the pitch for the second-half to a cacophony of boos while the Scots being uncharitable visitors kept their hosts waiting in the freezing cold.
The Scots increased their lead to 9-0 two minutes into the second-half as Paterson slotted a penalty from the left touchline.
Paterson, though, was at fault for conceding the penalty that got France finally off the mark in the 50th minute as he was penalised for stopping Brian Liebenberg taking a quick throw-in and this time Delaigue made no mistake.
Delaigue doubled his tally four minutes later after another Scotland infringement and take France to within three points of their opponents.
However, France could barely raise themselves from the mediocre level and kept making basic errors with captain Fabien Pelous getting the bird from the crowd when he failed to catch a kick and knocked on.
The match reached a farcical level when Valbon went to catch the ball on the touchline and a Scots replacement who was warming up by the line knocked it out of his hands leading to a stern look from the Frenchman.
The Scots were desperately unlucky not to have a try when Allister Hogg sped down the touchline and scored but was called back for having a foot in touch which on TV replays did not look to be the case.
The game turned on its head in the 72nd minute when Petrie was sinbinned as the French for once turned on the pressure just yards from the line.
However, the hosts were unable to score a try and had to resort to a drop goal from Delaigue to bring them level at 9-9. That was the last action for him as he was replaced by Frederic Michalak.
The French then stole it at the death as Gregory Lamboley knocked down Southwell's kick in the 22 and Traille ran on to touch it down. Michalak then converted to rub salt into the Scots' wounds.
