Match Report: Scotland 50-40 France

The French were out in force in Edinburgh, generating a cacophony as the teams arrived to the bellowing en masse of La Marseillaise. By full-time, the mood music had shifted fully to the rallying cry that Scotland were championship contenders.

To the action, then, and the hefty chronological breakdown to follow.

Huw Jones had the game’s first line break, and it was the precursor to the game’s opening try; a marquee one at that. Finn Russell’s apparent fumble went backwards and after regathering, he slipped in Darcy Graham who took the invitation to become Scotland Men’s all-time leading try scorer and answered emphatically for his 36^th international score. Russell converted as Scotland got the start they had doubtless dreamed of (7-0, 5 mins).

When Matthieu Jalibert’s grubber escaped Théo Atissogbe’s clutches, it was something of a warning shot, and a portal of what was about to happen. Scotland won a scrum on their own 5m but after laying the foundations with a ruck from Sione Tuipulotu’s nudge, Antoine Dupont showed his street smarts in pilfering, before Jalibert found Louis Bialle-Biarrey in the left corner for the winger’s scarcely believable ninth try in consecutive Guinness Men’s Six Nations games. Ramos’ conversion was, as it so often is, on the money (7-7, 18 mins).

France’s next followed two minutes later and it was an altogether simpler task as Atissogbe ran onto Bialle-Biarrey’s grubber for the easiest of tries, Ramos again converting (7-14, 22 mins).

If many Scots feared the worst at that point, they were to be proven wrong and then some.

Graham was tackled off the ball, and then Oscar Jegou played Ben White before the scrum-half could use the ball at a ruck, and Russell caressed one into touch in order that Scotland might mount.

From the resulting line-out, they roared back into proceedings with a glorious bit of set-piece work. George Turner wrapped around and went full playmaker to put Kyle Steyn in on his inside, the winger scything through and going over for this 17^th Scotland try (12-14, 26 mins).

The hosts then had the opportunity to retake the lead when Julien Marchand was called offside by referee Angus Gardner after half an hour. Russell opted for the corner instead of the three-point penalty, and how it paid off.

It was like a scene from a battle movie as Scotland went time and again to the line without quite getting it done – largely down to some excellent French rearguard action. Penalty advantages stacked up and when Pierre Schoeman barged over for Scotland’s third, converted by Russell again, France’s woe was compounded by the showing of a yellow card for Jalibert (19-14, 33 mins).

Pictured: Pierre Schoeman emerges from scoring a seventh Scotland try

In the ascendancy without doubt, Scotland sought one more scoreboard ticker before the interval but France held out with 14 men, with which they would need to negotiate the first three minutes of the second half.

Half-time: Scotland 19-14 France

You felt it was imperative that Scotland got the first score of the second half and it took all of those three minutes for it to happen. After Sione Tuipulotu was collared high when he looked well placed to score, it was a case of Russell rinse and repeating a clip into the corner for another attacking set piece. Once more it brought priceless bullion for the hosts when, with another advantage in the bank, Ben White pounced on a gaping hole in French ranks to secure his side a try-scoring bonus point. Russell stretched the lead to 12 with his simplest conversion of the day (26-14, 43 mins).

If France were spooked, they were soon flat-out stunned when, from a seemingly innocuous ruck, Dupont’s pass found its way into the intercepting hands of Steyn, who, powered by the raucous capacity crowd, summoned the afterburners and hared home for his second, once more converted by Russell (33-14, 51 mins).

A French offside brought another, swaggering kick to the corner as Scotland looked to kill the game. And after another belligerent attacking maul, Blair Kinghorn wriggled and writhed in the tackle, buying enough time to allow Graham to dive through another porous gap to go over for his second under the sticks (40-14, 59 mins).

It was a day for doubting reality; for checking with those around you that what was happening was not just historic, but actually real. Dupont, the game’s greatest talent, somehow threw a forward pass inside his own goal area to hand Scotland a scrum 5m out. This time it was Tom Jordan who punched his way over for a seventh home try (47-14, 64 mins). Reality rarely looked so good.

Dupont then ended a length-of-field break with a stunning team try. That it barely raised an eyebrow from those of a Scottish persuasion highlighted the dominance the hosts had enjoyed. (47-21, 66 mins).

Even with the game won, Graham’s powers of stamina to race from his own station to cover a try on the left showcased the desire within Scottish ranks to avoid a visiting bonus point.

Ramos then delivered a tidy close-range finish to give France the bonus point they needed to remain top of the table – on points difference alone by this stage, from their hosts in second (47-26, 74 mins).

Russell took his own tally to 15, as Scotland remarkably reached a half-century of points with a late penalty, and Oscar Jegou had time to grab a fifth French try during which Josh Bayliss was sin-binned (50-33, 78 mins).

Ramos went over again – not many teams can have lost at international level after scoring six tries – and he converted but it was the final act (50-40, 80 mins).

The headline, from the myriad contenders, was that Scotland had comprehensively beaten the continent’s top team to win The Auld Alliance Trophy and ensure that the culmination of the 2026 Guinness Men’s Six Nations will have a vested Scottish interest.

Full-time: Scotland 50-40 France

Pictured: The victorious Auld Alliance Trophy winners

Scotland: Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse), Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby), Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (captain), Kyle Steyn (all Glasgow Warriors); Finn Rusell (Bath Rugby), Ben White (Toulon); Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby), George Turner (Harlequins), D’arcy Rae (Edinburgh Rugby), Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey (all Glasgow Warriors).

Replacements: Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh Rugby) (for Turner, 51 mins), Rory Sutherland (Glasgow Warriors) (for Schoeman, 66 mins), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) (for Rae, 39 mins), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) (for Brown, 33 mins), Freddy Douglas (Edinburgh Rugby) (for Steyn, 66 mins), Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby) (for Cummings, 51 mins), George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) (for White, 66 mins), Tom Jordan (Bristol Bears) (for Jones, 55 mins).

France: Thomas Ramos, Théo Attisogbe, Nicholas Depoortère, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bialle-Biarrey; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont (captain); Jean-Baptiste Gros, Julien Marchand, Dorian Aldegheri, Charles Ollivon, Mickaël Guillard, François Cros, Oscar Jégou, Anthony Jelonch.

Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Rodrique Neti, Demba Bamba, Thibaud Flament Emmanuel Meafou, Lenni Nouchi, Baptiste Serin, Pierre-Louis Barassi.

Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace (IRFU) and Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)

Attendance: 67,144

Guinness Player of the Match: Kyle Steyn (Scotland)