France player ratings: Antoine Dupont is human while Fabien Galthie fails to spot ‘disaster class’ unfolding as Scotland outclass Les Bleus
Antoine Dupont and an inset of France head coach Fabien Galthie.
Following France’s shock 50-40 defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield, here’s how we rated Fabien Galthie’s charges as their Six Nations Grand Slam hopes were left in tatters.
France player ratings
15 Thomas Ramos: The stats are kind to the French full-back, as he racked up 20 points, scoring two tries and slotted five conversions. Both of his five-pointers came when the result was pretty much sealed. Still, it meant that France picked up a crucial league point. He struggled with the sun in the first half, dropping a straightforward catch cold. Still, he was hardly the reason France were outplayed. 7
14 Theo Attissogbe: A bit loose at times in possession, conceding a hat-trick of turnovers, just one less than his fellow winger, but got on the scoreboard and threatened when he did get his hand on the ball. 6
13 Nicolas Depoortere: Puzzlingly hooked in the second half with his centre partner producing an utter disaster class. He rightly shot up on Finn Russell, but the Scotsman brilliantly got the ball away to set-up the try. Depoortere looked lively at times, on both sides of the ball. He was replaced when the Scots had just opened up a 26-14 lead. 5
12 Yoram Moefana: It’s frankly mind-blowing that he played a full 80 minutes, as he did very little right today. He was woeful on defence, directly costing France two tries and offered very little with the ball in hand. A nightmarish performance from start to finish. 2
11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey: Nine tries in his last nine Six Nations matches, no other player has achieved that. But that will offer very little solace after his team was largely outplayed. He created Attissogbe’s first-half try with a Kevin De Bruyne-esque through ball and was comfortably one of the better players in white on the park. 7
10 Matthieu Jalibert: He was unlucky to be the last to concede a penalty as Angus Gardner reached for his pocket. Had moments of real brilliance in attack but France were starved of possession too much for him to influence in the result. He was crucial in ensuring that Les Bleus didn’t leave Murrayfield pointless. 6
9 Antoine Dupont (c): Created something out of nothing, robbing Sione Tuipulotu of the ball after Moefana acted as a training cone in defence, and Bielle-Biarrey profited. Scored a try later in the second half, but that was after he gift-wrapped one for the Scots and threw one of the most forward passes you will ever see. Proved that he is in fact human. 4
The forwards
8 Anthony Jelonch: Threw his weight around on defence well but was caught ball watching as Kyle Steyn went sprinting away to score. Left the pitch for an HIA in the second half, which he failed. Rubbing salt into France’s wounds. 5
7 Oscar Jegou: May well be facing a disciplinary panel next week if the citing commissioner spots his potential eye-gouging as Scotland opened up a 40-14 lead. Madness that the TMO didn’t pick up on it. That was a moment when the French really started to lose their heads. Until then, Jegou was one of the shining lights in a poor Les Bleus’ performance. He was heroic on defence at times and worked relentlessly throughout. 6
Rampant Scotland ruin France’s Six Nations Grand Slam dream with emphatic victory at Murrayfield
6 François Cros: The Toulouse flanker is as reliable as a Toyota Hilux. He was penalised at one breakdown, taking Russell out of the game. Like Jegou, he did what was expected of him, making his tackles and hit rucks relentlessly. Cros has incredibly high standards and while he didn’t quite hit those, it wasn’t a poor performance. 6
5 Mickael Guillard: Landed some hulking hits in defence and had some strong carries into the Scottish defence, but France weren’t able to create enough opportunities for him to really stamp his mark. It was a solid outing but outstanding. 6
4 Charles Ollivon: A collector’s item performance as very rarely does Charles Ollivon have an underwhelming, quiet shift, but today was one of those days. Scotland dominated possession for much of the time he was on the pitch, meaning that Ollivon wasn’t afforded the opportunity to really stretch his legs with ball in hand. However, he made his tackles and stayed on the right side of the referee’s whistle. 5
3 Dorian Aldegheri: Largely dominated by Pierre Schoeman in the scrums, and it put his side under immense pressure. A decent return on his tackle count but one of the several France players who were simply alright but no better than that. 4
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2 Julien Marchand: He has certainly had better Test matches. Missed some crucial tackles that Scotland punished and conceded a penalty. Found his jumper with three of his four throws, which is a decent return, but he will be disappointed and could be one of the many that feel Galthie’s selection wrath next week. 3
1 Jean-Baptiste Gros: Like his propping partner, he had a tough old game against Les Bleus. D’Arcy Rae put him under the pump in the set-pieces but was tireless on defence making over 20 tackles – an insane return for a prop who was hooked after 50 minutes. 6
Replacements: Hit and miss as Scotland really pulled away when Galthie started to empty his bench. Baptiste Serin earned his 50th cap today when replacing Dupont and he was accurate and energetic. Peato Mauvaka was an improvement at hooker, but France were ill-disciplined with Lenni Nouchi visiting the sin bin and several other forwards conceding penalties at will. 5
