The France team has been warned. After being beaten by Ireland (32-19), the Blues have two weeks to prepare for the reception at the Stade de France of a Scottish team in great shape: the XV du Chardon achieved a splendid performance to largely take the top over Wales, Saturday February 11 (35-7). The Scots thus have a second success in as many games in the Six Nations Tournament – after winning in England – and prance at the top of the standings with the same number of points as Ireland (10).
In the XXIe century, Scotland had taken the bad habit of being more often a stooge in the Six Nations Tournament than a real nation that counts. The situation has been changing for a few seasons. Freed from the label of “magnificent losers”, coach Gregor Townsend’s men did not wait long to take the lead against Wales. After two penalties from Finn Russell (9e and 16e), they accelerated in the wake of their forwards. On a carried ball, George Turner extracted himself head first to sink the defense of the Leek XV and score the first try of the match (33e).
If the Scottish hooker attended Ken Owens’ Welsh trial a few minutes later (35e) from the bench – after picking up a yellow card for a high tackle – the Scots didn’t seem overly concerned. And for good reason: ultra-precise in defense and dominating in the duel, they seemed several classes above their opponents, and the second half only reinforced this feeling.
The Finn Russell Show
A second half marked by the seal of Finn Russell. Capable of the best (often) as well as the worst (sometimes), the number 10 of Scotland and Racing 92 had a good day on Saturday, and distributed the caviars on the lawn of Murrayfield, in Edinburgh. The first to benefit from it was Kyle Douglas Steyn. The Scottish winger scored twice, first by receiving a magnificent chistera pass from his opener to go flatten (52e), before quietly waiting on his wing for Russell’s kick to land in his hands (58e).
The case then seemed to be settled, but Russell had not finished distributing the gifts to his teammates. If his kick was imprecise against the poles (two failed attempts), he was much more effective in the game, as evidenced by his pass for Duhan Van der Merwe on the try a few moments later from Blair Kinghorn (72e). The Scottish conductor finally ended his recital with a last pass screwed into the hands of third Matt Fagerson, who only had to bend down to score (79e).
Unable to score despite numerous attempts, the Welsh are experiencing an ordeal at the start of the Six Nations Tounoi. The teammates of Toulonnais Dan Biggar chained a second consecutive slap after the one received at home against Ireland (34-10) and headed for a new disappointing Tournament, they who had finished penultimate in the 2022 edition. Far from these considerations, the Scots begin to dream of a new trophy, twenty-four years after their last victory in the Tournament which was then of the five nations.
