** Scotland (6) 9**
Pens: Paterson 3
**France (15) 18 **
Tries: Bastareaud 2 Cons: Parra Pens: Parra 2
By Keir Murray
**Scotland succumbed to another opening-day RBS Six Nations defeat against a superior French side at Murrayfield.**Chris Paterson, earning his 99th cap, put Scotland ahead with an early penalty, but the French scored through Mathieu Bastareaud’s try.
Morgan Parra missed the conversion but landed a penalty before Bastareaud powered home for his second try.
The remainder of Scotland’s points came from Paterson’s boot, while scrum-half Parra kept the French out of sight.
There was a minute’s silence before kick-off to remember legendary broadcaster Bill McLaren, who died recently aged 86.
Scotland’s only win against France this century came in a 20-16 victory at Murrayfield in 2006 but a repeat rarely looked on the cards.
The intensity of the encounter was evident in two early ferocious tackles by French winger Aurelien Rougerie, who hammered into Kelly Brown as he collected the opening kick, then stopped Johnnie Beattie in his tracks.
The Frenchman was replaced by Toulouse left winger Vincent Clerc after just four minutes.
Scotland’s first foray deep into French territory came in the eighth minute, as Max Evans escaped the clutches of the visitors’ defence and put Clement Poitrenaud on to his back foot.
Paterson scored his 151st penalty in his 99th appearance for Scotland, to give the home side a 3-0 advantage after 10 minutes.
But Clerc looked a certainty to score the first try of the match moments later, only for Thom Evans to get his hands under the ball over the line.
France were first to run in a try, the culmination of intense pressure on Andy Robinson’s back line as the French scrum began to take a grip of the match.
The ball was switched from left to right, Francois Trinh-Duc feeding Bastareaud to cross the line unopposed to give France a 5-3 lead.
By way of respite for Scotland, Parra missed the conversion.
The bulk of the 66,500 fans at Murrayfield roared Beattie on as first Phil Godman burst from right to left and the Warriors number eight collected the off-load to attack briskly at a different angle.
Godman handed France a glorious opportunity to extend their lead when he attempted a kick out to the left on the halfway line and the ball broke for Trinh-Duc who sped towards the try line but was tackled heroically by Sean Lamont a second before delivering the blow.
Moray Low conceded a penalty in the scrum in 27 minutes on the Scots’ 10 metre line, which Parra converted to give France an 8-3 advantage.
Scotland were offered encouragement almost immediately, when Lamont smashed through two tackles and offloaded to the impressive Cusiter, formerly of Perpignan, before France are punished for being offside, despite Godman taking the wrong option out on the right wing.
Paterson kicked his second penalty of the game, and his 33rd consecutive Six Nations penalty, to keep his team in touch with the more dangerous-looking opponents.
The French stepped up a gear as the first half moved into its closing stages. Imanol Harinordoquy found 18-stone Bastareaud charging forward at his left shoulder and the 21-year-old evaded a desperate tackle by Brown, to claim his second try of the game.
The conversion was executed superbly by Parra out by the left-footed Para from an acute angle.
At 15-6 down, Scotland clung on, Paterson one of those making crucial tackles under the posts.
The last points-scorer of the opening half was first on the scoreboard in the second period, as scrum-half Parra made the most of sloppy Scotland play to clip a penalty through the posts after Godman was penalised.
Marc Lievremont’s reign in charge of Les Bleus, which began with a 27-6 win at Murrayfield two years ago, has been characterised by his willingness to experiment with his team selection.
And few moments of the game could better highlight the disparity in top-level resources as when Lievremont introduced Luc Ducalcon to the action, the 71st player he has used.
Scottish tries are rare - only two were scored in the three autumn Tests - and they did not look like scoring one for most of the second half.
But with Paterson there is always a weapon to put points on the board.
Benjamin Fall ran a good 40m believing he was registering a try for the French but he was called back by Nigel Owens so that Scotland’s record points-scorer could add to his tally to make it 18-9.
There were momentary glimpses of Scotland in attack, with a late charge by Graeme Morrison giving the home fans something to cheer about to try to silence the jubilant French supporters.
But, typically, Scotland’s best work was in defence against the impressive French, and Robinson has plenty of work to do to make his team more potent a threat in attack.
Scotland: Paterson, Evans, Evans, Morrison, S Lamont, Godman, Cusiter (Captain); Dickinson, Ford, Low, Nathan Hines, Kellock, Brown, Barclay, Beattie. Replacements: Lawson, Jacobsen, Gray, MacDonald, Lawson, Grove, Southwell.
France: Poitrenaud, Fall, Bastareaud, Jauzion, Rougerie, Trinh-Duc, Parra; Domingo, Servat, Mas, Nallet, Pape, Dusautoir (captain), Fulgence Ouedraogo, Harinordoquy. Replacements: Szarzewski, Ducalcon, Pierre, Bonnaire, Elissalde, Marty, Clerc.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
**Assistant referees: **Chris White (England) & Tim Hayes (Wales)
**Fourth official: **Graham Hughes (England)