Young Bleus crush Scots

A new-look France side got their RBS Six Nations campaign off to a winning start with a 27-6 defeat of Scotland at Murrayfield.

After victories for the two other Celtic nations on Saturday, Scotland were tipped by many to upset the defending champions but in truth they never came close.

They made too many mistakes and they made them in dangerous areas. They also failed to turn a competitive breakdown and set pieces into chances, despite plenty of attacking intent.

Both sides were determined to play an expansive game which made for plenty of entertainment but it was France who had the attacking edge, outscoring their hosts by three tries to nil.

Scotland made the worst possible start as Dan Parks' kick-off went out on the full but after his side managed to clear following a ruck penalty, Parks made amends three minutes in with a curling, snap drop-goal.

Bright

But that was the high point for the Scots and despite some bright early runs from Nikki Walker, they fell behind on 11 minutes and never really got back into the game.

Vincent Clerc and Cedric Heymans proved a thorn in the Scots' side throughout but there was an element of good fortune as the pair swapped passes down the right before Clerc reached over to score.

There was clearly a forward pass in the build-up and Clerc may have made a double movement in the act of scoring, but the try was awarded and Damien Traille converted.

Andy Henderson reacted badly to the perceived injustice and his headbutt in the aftermatch of the try gave France a penalty instead of a re-start.

Traille's penalty on 17 minutes stretched the lead but Parks missed a straightforward chance to cut the arrears.

France also enjoyed an element of luck in their second try on 22 minutes, although this time the officials shouldered no blame.

Julien Malzieu chipped over the top, an ugly bounce fooled both Rory Lamont and Parks, and the debutant collected and scored under the posts.

The Scottish scrum was a definite bright spot and after pushing France off the ball they then got a penalty after the re-set and Parks cut the deficit to 17-6.

Wide

But the hosts were also fortunate to head into half-time just 11 points adrift as Jean-Baptiste Elissalde was wide with two very kickable penalties late in the half.

Scotland continued to try to play an expansive game after the break and nearly paid a high price for their ambition as Nick De Luca knocked on trying to run the ball in his own 22, only for Julien Malzieu to knock on in turn close to the line.

Their performance at the breakdown was encouraging and they forced a number of turnovers, but the Scottish backs were still making too many errors.

The French scrum stiffened in the second half and after the Scotland set piece collapsed, Traille proved more effective than Elissalde and stetched the lead again.

The danger signals were still there whenever Clerc had ball in hand and the winger's terrific burst almost set up a try midway through the half.

On 64 minutes Clerc grabbed his second try, chipping over the Scotland cover defence and taking advantage of another kind bounce to score.

Scotland were being outplayed but the luck was certainly not going their way and they were denied a late consolation when Chris Paterson broke but was stopped just short of line, then Chris Cusiter spilled the ball under pressure in the act of scoring.