Scotland brace for 'toughest fixture in world' against France
Today at 04:42 AM
REACTION: Gregor Townsend said finishing the Six Nations at France next weekend was the toughest fixture in world rugby after his Scotland side revived their campaign with a 35-29 home win over Wales on Saturday.
Hours before Scotland bounced back from their agonising one-point loss to England with their second win from four games, France stunned Ireland 47-22 in Dublin.
Victory ended previously unbeaten double-defending Six Nations champions Ireland's bid for a Grand Slam and catapulted France two points clear at the top of the table with one game remaining.
France also have a colossal points difference of +106 compared to second-placed Ireland's +13.
Russell 'in the groove'
Victory over Wales saw Scotland co-captain Finn Russell regain his place-kicking form, the flyhalf converting all his side's five tries, including doubles for Tom Jordan and impressive Toulouse fullback Blair Kinghorn, with returning wing Darcy Graham also dotting down.
Russell's accuracy off the tee was in sharp contrast to what happened at Twickenham in the third round where Scotland outscored England three tries to one yet still lost 16-15 after the flyhalf missed all three conversions.
"I think I had my boots on the right feet today," joked Russell.
"No, it was good. I think I did quite a bit of work this week and just got myself in the groove, which was nice actually."
Scotland surged into a 35-8 lead against Wales but, not for the first time, they suffered a late drop-off in the final quarter as the visitors rallied through tries from Ben Thomas, Teddy Williams and Max Llewellyn.
"I think after about 55 minutes, we probably switched off a little bit, so for us, as learning, as a team, we need to stamp that out and make sure we have ruthless 80-minute performances," said Russell.
"We've got a great mental skills coach [Jess Thom] here so I think as a collective we'll maybe have a chat with her," he added.
Defeat extended Wales' national record losing streak to 16 Tests but interim coach Matt Sherratt, whose caretaker stint started with an encouraging 27-18 defeat by Ireland, was buoyed by his side's resilience in Edinburgh.
"Obviously a real brave effort at the end to come back and get two points, but I've seen enough of those games where the reality is they probably thought they [Scotland] had done enough and maybe dropped off five per cent," said Sherratt whose three-game reign as Wales boss concludes against his native England in Cardiff next Saturday.
"What I did feel, though, is there was a hell of a lot of effort from our boys in that last 20 minutes.
"It was outstanding," he added.
[rp-comp-table data="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"][/rp-comp-table]
