After the exclusion of the second line Grant Gilchrist for a shoulder blow to the face of Anthony Jelonch (7th), the Blues were only in numerical superiority six minutes, the time for the pillar Mohamed Haouas to be sent off at his turn (13th), for a headbutt on Ben White during a clearing.

A red card on each side and four tries, synonymous with an offensive bonus, for Fabien Galthié's men: jostled, they were able to correct the situation, a fortnight after having come up against Ireland (32-19) in Dublin.

Fly-half Romain Ntamack (5th), winger Ethan Dumortier (8th), full-back Thomas Ramos (19th) and center Gaël Fickou (79th) offered victory to the Blues, while relaunching them in the race to the final victory.

For its part, the XV du Chardon responded with a double from center Huw Jones (25th, 48th) and opener Finn Russell (68th).

Now, in addition to a trip to England on March 11 and the reception of Wales the following week, the French must count on a misstep from Ireland, the last unbeaten team of the 2023 Tournament, to hope to retain their title.

French captain Antoine Dupont thanks the Stade de France public for their support during the victory against Scotland (32-21) in the Six Nations Tournament, Sunday February 26, 2023 in Saint-Denis, near Paris © ANNE- CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP

The XV of France thus won its tenth success in a row at home and equalized a record almost forty years old, established between 1986 and 1989.

The last defeat dates back to the arrival of... Scotland (27-23) in March 2021. At the time, a try from Duhan van der Merwe at the very end of the match tipped the match in favor of the visitors, who won in France for the first time since 1999.

A red that works

This time, the Blues held the shock.

Better, they left drum beating, registering three tries during the first twenty minutes.

Mohamed Haouas' red card, his second in fifteen selections and once again against this opponent (in addition to two yellows against Wales in 2020 and 2021), has disrupted the blue machine a little.

But not as much as the premature exit of the essential Stade Toulousain pruning shears Anthony Jelonch, author of six tackles before his final exit (15th).

It was also a tackle from Jelonch on the powerful winger Duhan van der Merwe (2nd), stopped short on the spot, which had set the tone: in the process, the Scots were pushed to the fault, the Blues recovered the ball and Romain Ntamack spun on the test (5th).

Scottish winger Duhan van der Merwe (left) was muzzled by the French defense during Les Bleus' 32-21 victory in the Six Nations tournament, Sunday February 26, 2023, at the Stade de France (Saint-Denis) © ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP

Clean and precise.

This time, the XV du Chardon, winner four times in the last seven Franco-Scottish confrontations before this one, will not pass.

However, he almost slipped through a mouse hole by returning to four points about ten minutes from the end.

The Blues played with fire, leaving Stuart Hogg's teammates to come back little by little when they could have, or even should have, secured victory earlier.

The Scots had however won their first two matches of the 2023 Tournament, in England (29-23) then against Wales (35-7).

They are deprived of the pass of three by valiant Frenchmen who are not brilliant.

© 2023 AFP