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| - Scotland enjoyed their first victory over France in Paris since 1999 as they ended Les Blues' Six Nations title hopes with a 27-23 win on Friday that saw Wales crowned champions. France, a week after denying Wales the Grand Slam with a last-gasp win in Paris, always had an uphill struggle to take the title in that they had to score four tries and win by 21 points as well. But in the end they didn't even have the consolation of a win, with Scotland overcoming a sin-binning for captain Stuart Hogg and a red card with eight minutes left for playmaker Finn Russell. France, in a match postponed from last month because of a coronavirus outbreak in their camp, led 23-20 with 80 minutes on the clock. But, with Brice Dulin not putting the ball into touch, Scotland won a penalty and, after multiple phases, Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe went over for his second try of the match to seal the Dark Blues' first success in the French capital since 1999. Below AFP Sport looks at three key aspects of a thrilling match. Brice Dulin was the toast of France after his added-on time try denied Wales last week and he also crossed early on against Scotland. But his inexplicable decision to try to run the ball from deep, rather than kick it dead, when France's title hopes had evaporated, paved the way for Scotland's remarkable finish. The set-piece had proved problematic for Scotland in earlier rounds but hooker George Turner repeatedly found lock Grant Gilchrist to give the visitors a secure source of line-out possesion, with replacement hooker Dave Cherry nailing his throws as well. It was hard to argue with most of the decisions made by referee Wayne Barnes and his colleagues in a busy night for the match officials. France, though, had a case for feeling aggrieved by Barnes allowing Duhan van der Merwe's first try, when it appeared the Scotland wing had made a double movement. But the vastly experienced English referee, while happy to call for the assistance of the television match official throughout this fixture, had no doubt in trusting his own judgement as he ruled van der Merwe had grounded and placed the ball over the line. jdg/dj
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