Scotland fall to defeat against France after late Sam Skinner try not awarded

Scotland’s players consult the referee Nic Berry after the controversial ending to their match. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

Murrayfield was on its feet at the end, cheering for the outcome they so desperately wanted. Alas, it was the television match official they were trying to inspire. Trailing by four with time up, Scotland thought Sam Skinner had driven over for the try that would have brought victory. But the referee, Nic Berry, had decided on the field that the ball was held up. Over to the TMO to find evidence otherwise. Had the on-field decision been positive, there was no evidence of the ball being held up, but neither was there quite conclusive proof of a grounding, no matter how much the stadium howled.

And so the howling morphed from hope to despair. Scotland beaten in a match they might easily won, certainly if dominance were the metric. They hardly tore France apart, but they should have been further ahead at the break after a comfortable first half.

France lost their captain Grégory Alldritt to injury early in the second half, but the youngsters who conspired to replace him and others in the France pack rose to the occasion in the final quarter to overturn a six-point lead. A moment of brilliance by Louis Bielle-Biarrey clinched the match with 10 minutes remaining.

More agony then for Scotland, but the hosts could not have made a much more confident start. That included the debutant at full-back, Harry Paterson. The 22-year-old was whistled up on the morning of the match, when Kyle Steyn’s wife went into labour. On this evidence, a new Scotland full-back might very well have been born. Who knows, maybe two of them if all goes well for the Steyns.

Paterson fielded his first kick from the first play, but a few minutes later he was carrying hard off Finn Russell, before hitting the line imperiously later in the same play. Scotland’s hands were sweet, as Duhan van der Merwe came in from the blindside. He put Paterson through the gap, and the full-back turned the ball inside to Huw Jones, who did the same to send Ben White through a tackle to the line.

It was a fabulous try to set Murrayfield alight on a cold, grey day. Better still, the Scottish set piece was looking solid. The fabled French scrummagers were contained, but the lineout was immaculate on Scottish ball and menacing on French. France could barely secure any clean ball on theirs and surrendered two in that first period. Two Russell penalties outdid a reply by Thomas Ramos to open a 13-3 lead on the half-hour.

But that was when France struck. They were not playing well, but their try just past the half-hour was well worked. François Cros won a turnover to launch a French attack. Grégory Alldritt drove close, as did Cyril Baille. When Matthieu Jalibert sent out a long ball, Gaël Fickou had a clear run to the corner. Ramos converted from the touchline to keep France within three.

Really, Scotland should have stretched that lead before the break. Wave after wave of attackers had France creaking. Uini Atonio saw yellow for a no-arms charge in an offside position. Scotland called a scrum, from which they could not profit, and then another, at which they were deemed to have gone to ground. Penalty to France. Chance missed.

The lead was eventually extended towards the end of the third quarter, when Russell converted a penalty after a Scotland attack from a scrum had caught Jalibert offside. But not before France suffered as telling a blow as the yellow card for Atonio. Their captain Alldritt won a penalty at a ruck, but his foot seemed to get stuck when he was cleared out. He left the field on a stretcher – and with France having just replaced both locks, France’s experience quotient in the pack was suddenly diminished.

Already without Antoine Dupont, Nolann le Garrec came on at scrum-half at the same time, but the French youngsters had something up their sleeve, duly revealed with a mere 10 minutes to play. Cros had moved to No 8. After he carried blind, Le Garrec fed Bielle-Biarrey. All four of the game’s electric wingers had been quiet, but Bielle-Biarrey chose then to change all that.

He took the ball surrounded by blue shirts and chipped over the lot of them. His white shirt came out of the thicket of blue like a shot to score France’s second. Ramos converted and for the first time France had the lead.

Now the French forwards had their tails up. The lineout had found its rhythm at last. An attacking drive from the latest set up Ramos for his second penalty with only three minutes to play, to take France beyond three points.

A brilliant run by Kyle Rowe took Scotland into France’s 22. He knocked on in the tackle, but Russell managed to win a loose ball back after the scrum. So set up one last tilt at France’s line. In the fever of the moment, Scotland kept the ball tight, hammering away either side of the ruck. They worked their way to the line, Skinner drove, and Scots appealed furiously for the try. The referee ruled that it was not grounded. And the inquest began, with the burden of proof on Scotland. Devastation was the verdict.