Six Nations: Philippe Saint-Andre says France have to be more patient after they struggled to overcome Scotland

France coach Philippe Saint-Andre says his side have to turn pressure into points if they are to challenge Ireland in next weekend’s Six Nations clash.

France stuttered to a 15-8 win over Scotland at Stade de France on Saturday despite dominating all aspects of the game. They had plenty of try-scoring opportunities but could not make them count and had to rely on the boot of Camille Lopez for all their points.

France now have to travel to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday to take on Ireland and Saint-Andre said they cannot afford to leave points out on the field against the defending Six Nations champions.

"We need to be more patient when we are close to the lines," said Saint-Andre.

“We need to play one or two extra phases if we want to score and we need to improve on our periods of dominance, we need to make them count.”

The former France international, however, was satisfied his team managed to win the match despite conceding a try.

"We could have done better but two years ago it is a game we would not have won," added the coach.

Scotland coach Vern Cotter believes his side are heading in the right direction despite losing.

Missed opportunities        

Cotter, who has transformed Scotland from a naive to a solid team since he took charge last June, said they could have "come away with a draw".

"We were pretty close, we had a lot of opportunities,” said the New Zealander who took over last June.

"It was a very physical game, it ebbed and flowed. I thought we adapted well going from attack to defence. We did spend time in the middle part of the second half in our half of the field but the guys who came on brought energy and did what we asked of them.

"That helped. It was one of those days when they hit the post and the ball went in while we hit the post and the ball went out.

"We defended well and limited the space they had on the pitch. We know they're very dangerous, they pushed us backwards when running the ball and had us in trouble a few times.

"We knew it would be tough, they'd lost their last one here against Argentina and we knew after what happened here recently they'd be very motivated,” added the former Clermont coach.

“We were in the contest the whole time; it could have gone either way. It went to the French team, who played well. It's a good start from our guys and we'll be talking about lifting the performance for next week."