Scotland player ratings vs France as Gregor Townsend's side end their campaign with a frustrating 35-16 loss in Paris.
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Initially looking threatening and running the French close, the Scots were overpowered in the second half as France put away four tries in total to win the tournament. Scotland, whose points came from a well-worked Darcy Graham try and the boot of Finn Russell, end the championship in a disappointing fourth place.
Here's Scotland's player ratings from their 36-15 defeat to France.
FRANCE 35 (16) [T: Y. Moefana (2) 18’, 62’, L. Bielle-Biarrey 42’, T. Ramos 57’; P: T. Ramos (3) 4’, 25’, 38’; C: T. Ramos (3) 18’,43’, 58’; YC: P. Mauvaka 21’, J-B. Gros 36’]
SCOTLAND 16 (13) [T: D. Graham 29’; P: F. Russell (3) 21’, 36’, 52’; C: F. Russell 30’; YC: J. Ritchie 12']
Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Attendance: 78,226
Scotland player ratings vs France:
Blair Kinghorn - 7
Though the try was controversially disallowed, Kinghorn's lung-busting run to set up Tom Jordan's crossing at the end of the half was incredible. The Toulouse man showed off just why he came into this round as the player with the most yards gained in the whole championship, but couldn't do enough to win this one for the Scots.
Darcy Graham - 7
Graham's first real attacking involvement saw him drop a simple pass and end Scotland's maiden look at the French line. He redeemed himself with a perfectly timed run on Russell's shoulder to grab the visitors' opening try and was solid throughout the rest of the match as Scotland finished with three defeats from five.
Huw Jones - 6
Jones came into this game with four tries already in the tournament, but failed to make an impact on proceedings here. He had his moments with nice carries that we've come to expect, but Scotland's player of the tournament closed things out with a bit of a damp squib at Stade de France.
Tom Jordan - 7
Jordan did brilliantly to cross as the clock went red, fighting off multiple French defenders on his way over. While it was ultimately disallowed in dubious circumstances, it still showed why the Glasgow man has held down the starting 12 role in Sione Tuipulotu's absence.
Duhan van der Merwe - 6
Les Bleus clearly had a game plan for the Edinburgh winger and kept him quiet by allowing little to no space for him to accelerate. Occasionally going on a trademark winding run from deep, Scotland's leading try scorer was kept out of this one fairly comprehensively by Fabien Galthie's side.
Finn Russell - 7
A mixed bag for the Bath fly-half and provisional Lions starter. Russell kicked well from hands and tee throughout and linked up play nicely. His passing was a joy to behold in the build-up to Darcy Graham's score, including providing the assist. However, he started the second half by overcomplicating an offload to Graham, resulting in a dropped ball and a breakaway French try.
Ben White - 5
While Scotland ultimately took a penalty and a French yellow card from a resulting incident, White's decision to tap-and-go inside the hosts' 22 was hair-brained and cost his side a shot at seven. He didn't have much bearing on the rest of the visitors' rare successes, and was replaced by Jamie Dobie with 13 minutes remaining to end his championship with a whimper.
Pierre Schoeman - 6
The Scottish pack were absolutely bullied in the first half, both in the ruck and by the French maul. Schoeman didn't do as much ball carrying as he likes to in a Scotland shirt, and was replaced on 67 minutes with the game already over. In a Lions pool light on options at loosehead beyond Ireland's Andrew Porter, the South African native could be set for a busy summer in the land of Oz.
Dave Cherry - 6
Cherry produced some early moments of brilliance on both sides of the ball. His lineouts were once again solid and he picked up some nice carries. While he has rarely put a foot wrong on his international return, Cherry didn't contribute a huge deal to this game after 25 minutes and was substituted just before the hour.
Zander Fagerson - 6
Similarly to Schoeman, Fagerson didn't get enough of the ball for his usual impact on this one. The Glasgow tighthead may well play his next international game in red, but he would've liked to make a bigger splash in the championship decider.
Gregor Brown - 5
Against 14 men, Brown was the one caught out at the ruck for failing to roll away following a tackle on the 22. Brought in for the ultimately injured Jonny Gray to provide more mobility, Brown perhaps showed that Gregor Townsend should've blooded him more in the autumn and less challenging Six Nations matches. The Glasgow man ambled off after 58 minutes and a less-than-stellar performance.
Grant Gilchrist - 6
After some initial defensive errors, the veteran lock produced some battering carries in dangerous areas to keep things flowing. Replaced in the closing stages by Ben Muncaster, the 34-year-old is still contributing to his national team well in the back half of his career.
Jamie Ritchie - 5
Hours after being tipped for a Lions berth by this writer, Ritchie was sin-binned with just 12 minutes gone at the Stade de France for numerous infringements. He clawed back some points thanks to his usual tenacity at the breakdown, but can't score higher than this.
Rory Darge - 6
Darge was an injury doubt coming into this one after heading off in the first half against Wales, and this performance showed he almost certainly isn't 100% match fit. The co-captain was anonymous throughout compared to his more impactful performances that we're used to seeing in a Scotland shirt.
Matt Fagerson - 7
Fagerson had some nice rucking at the start of the game and was generally able to put himself about more than his fellow forwards. The High School of Dundee alumnus was the standout in the back row today for Scotland - but that's really not saying much.
Ewan Ashman, 6
Introduced with the game, and indeed the championship, already comfortably decided, Ashman couldn't do much to salvage what has been a pretty poor tournament for him. The Edinburgh man, so impressive in the summer and solid in the autumn, was booted to the bench for the returning Cherry and hasn't shown anything to make Townsend reverse that call.
Rory Sutherland, 6
Another player introduced too little too late to make an impression, Sutherland's 14 minutes were mostly spent floating between set pieces and playing stodgy, defensive rugby to close the match out.
Will Hurd, Unused substitute
Ewan Johnson, 6
Investigated but ultimately cleared for foul play in the dying moments, Johnson was otherwise another victim of circumstance in a performance which is difficult to rate. Neither doing any positive or negative work, he gets a bog-standard six out of ten as a participation medal.
Marshall Sykes, 6
Thanks to a highly competitive, albeit ageing, second row group ahead of him, this was just a second cap for Edinburgh's Sykes, and his first in four years. With limited time and ball, he wasn't able to do much on his international recall.
Ben Muncaster, 6
Muncaster's return to the international stage, facilitated by an injury to Jack Dempsey, was another 14-minute cameo. The Edinburgh man didn't do anything wrong per se, but these types of games are always difficult for substitutes to make their mark, especially in the pack.
Jamie Dobie, 6
Without any meaningful consecutive phases to build attacks, Dobie's 66th-minute introduction for Ben White produced little fanfare. The Glasgow man will almost certainly keep his international place in the age of the 6-2 split, where versatile backs are like gold dust, but there's no clear route to a starting berth here.
Stafford McDowall, 6
Like most of the bench, who were introduced simultaneously once the game had gotten away from Scotland, McDowall couldn't stamp his authority on this one. Benched in Round 2 after a poor showing against Italy, McDowall hasn't put in any performances since which would imply he'll re-overtake Jordan in the pecking order.
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