Michalak rues Edinburgh debacle

Frederic Michalak has conceded that France's Six Nations hopes are all but over.

Bernard Laporte's side were stunned 20-16 by Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday and the playmaker admitted that a tardy start cost Les Bleus.

The 23-year-old said: "It's difficult to see how we can win the championship from here. We will have that first 20 minutes in our heads for the rest of the tournament.

"There were too many errors, balls being dropped and knock-ons stopping us from gaining any momentum.

"We were following Scotland rather than playing our own game and imposing our style on them and mastering them."

France will hold an inquest before facing Ireland this weekend in Paris and the Toulouse stand-off is hoping that he can shake off a few niggles and make a greater impact.

He commented: "We have to have a good analysis of the game before we play Ireland and work out why it went wrong.

"(Yannick) Jauzion missing was a disappointment and I had a groin problem of my own which made it difficult - I trained more with the physios than I did with the team last week."