Wales win Six Nations title and Scotland stuns France despite late red card for Finn Russell

France gave Scotland one last gasp to lose 27-23 and hand Wales the Six Nations title on Friday (Saturday New Zealand time).

The Frenchman had the game in hand 23-20 up in injury time, but fullback Brice Dulin strangely decided not to kick the ball into touch with victory assured if he did.

The Scots exerted great pressure in 22 stages and left-back Duhan van der Merwe slipped into the left corner in the 85th minute for his second attempt of the night to secure Scotland’s first win in Paris since 1999.

Eleven years after the last victory in the tournament, France needed a victory with four attempts, bonus points and a 21-point margin of victory in the final of the tournament at an empty Stade de France. The odds weren’t good.

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The French made three attempts, but a medium effort never seemed to overwhelm the brave Scots, and they finished second in the championship, like last year.

“Even if we couldn’t get the point difference and the number of attempts we needed, we had several chances to win the match,” France coach Fabien Galthie said. “We can regret this. That’s the truth.”

France prevented Wales from winning the Grand Slam last weekend with their own last-gasp victory attempt, ironically against Dulin at the Stade de France, but Wayne Pivac’s revitalized unit ended up winning a second title in three years.

Another tense contest ended with 14 players on each side for the final stages.

Scotland first fifth eighth Finn Russell received a controversial red card and replacement running back Baptiste Serin was sentenced to sin moments later for spoiling Scotland’s maul. The scorecards came too late to make a big difference where the title finished, although Scotland failed to finish fourth.

Gregor Townsend’s entrepreneurial team, which also beat England at Twickenham, deserved the victory in Paris against a French side affected by the weight of positive expectation and returned to the careless mistakes of recent years.

This match was postponed from February 28 due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the French camp and because it fell outside the international window, Scotland was only able to summon five of the eight English players they wanted.

It barely showed, despite Romain Ntamack’s penalty in the top five putting France ahead on a rain-soaked night more akin to Glasgow’s.

The Scots, playing in much better conditions, used a pair of big pick-and-go from George Turner to knock mighty wing Van der Merwe out of a ruck in the 14th minute, converted by Russell.

Scottish aggression and superb line kicks made France nervous for the first 25 minutes and Ntamack’s poor pass put running back Antoine Dupont under too much pressure in front of the posts, allowing wing Jamie Ritchie to intimidate a penalty kick to Russell. .

France changed course thanks to a scrum penalty after a Scotland tackle. Ntamack nailed a 45-meter penalty and from a scrum Les Tricolores scored a textbook try. Dupont threw a deft pass to the right wing, where the stocky Damian Penaud showed soft hands to feed the ball inside to Dulin.

Ntamack converted to the right and France’s chances were further increased when Scottish fullback Stuart Hogg was sent off at halftime after repeated infractions from his team under pressure.

With Hogg’s sinbin waning, France took advantage of the man’s lead when center Virimi Vakatawa’s brilliant backdoor volley released Penaud, who took the lead and landed in the right corner for 18-10.

However, Hogg’s return calmed Scotland and the pressure was put back on France. A penalty from Russell narrowed the gap to five points at 53.

When Galthie sent Teddy Thomas down the left wing and Gael Fickou moved into midfield with Vakatawa for the final 20 minutes, France was supposed to be galvanized, but a calm Scotland advanced with a successful try.

France winger Swan Rebbadj ripped the ball out of the Scots’ hands in a maul, but lost control and replacement hooker David Cherry lunged happily. Russell converted for a 23-20 lead with a quarter to play.

Rebbadj made up for it by diving a few minutes later. Ntamack missed the extras this time around and France led just 23-20 with 15 to go.

Russell received a red card for a forearm on Dulin’s neck, but Serin’s yellow card took the lead away from France moments later.

Dulin was also involved in the critical last moments by failing to kick the ball and arriving too late to face Van der Merwe in a dramatic finish.