Pool B
Scotland 18 l. France 36

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Location: International > Nations > First Grade Competition: World Cup

Kilts lifted as Scots rally to the call
Sun October 26, 2008
At $501 to win the World Cup, the odds are stacked against the Scotland Braveheart's, no one is suggesting they're a chance. At $5 to win against France in a two horse race; it was always possible.

Gallant they were and no they didn't win.

No one was expecting Scotland to make a mark in the world cup, but the men in navy blue completed an unlikely berth in the World Cup finals following a play-off win over Wales last November.

Scotland is coached by Steve McCormack, head coach of the Widnes Vikings.

"Nobody ever expects us to win, and yet here we are in a World Cup finals. We're quite happy for everyone not to give us a second thought. I'll just be interested to see how France deal with the pressure," McCormack said in the lead up to the match.

If keeping the match close and forcing France to deal with pressure was Scotland's game plan, then their mission at Canberra Stadium tonight was a resounding success.

For a country on the verge of setting up a national league, achieving a ticket to the dance is success enough.

9,287 people turned out with enthusiastic support for one of the lower key matches for the tournament. It was evident that the sway of support was with the Scots. It's hard not to have a soft spot for the underdog, and perhaps the heritage of my surname had something to do with it. But I detected it was probably more to do with one of the world's favourite past times: hating those bloody French.

But for me the game held a more curious attraction. How many times do you get to go to a sporting event where a large percentage of drunken men are happily wandering around in kilts and the referees are dressed in pink and no one seems too bothered about it?

Perhaps that was the attraction for turning up for some of the crowd.

But the carnival atmosphere was at risk of a lop-sided contest. When rampaging prop Adel Fellous shrugged away defenders to set up the opening try for prolific tryscoring fullback Jared Taylor, you could have been excused for thinking it was going to be a long afternoon. Canberra Stadium could barely raise a cheer. But when the scots leveled minutes later it was obvious the crowd was involved in the encounter and their hearts were with one side.

Yeah those French dominated the second 20 of the first half to lead 18-6 at the break, but if the scots have one thing going for them is the famous 'rallying speeches'. You know the ones. Think of confused war
painted Hollywood actors with a screw loose, lifting the kilt and wobbling the 'where the sun don't shine' up in the air at the opponents. Coach McCormack rallied the troops at half-time in typical Scot style. I wish I could have heard the speech.

Six minutes after the break Oliver Wilkes crashed over after clever work from Braveheart halfback Danny Brough. Hooray for that half-time speech.

So the French waved for the archers to slow the impending Braveheart assault and another six-pointer was a damaging blow. But the scots didn't say die. Shields up, marching forward! Dean Colton led the charge to obliterate the left flank of the French line and keep the Scots in the battle with a 60th minute try.

Down by six points heading into the final five minutes, was a glimmer of hope for the Scots who were never supposed to be a chance.

But one final drive by the French saw them reign supreme with a quick 12 points to blow out the score, undeserved of the closeness of the contest. Scot bodies lay left, right and centre, tattered and battered from the final onslaught by the French, but the Scottish pride remained unbroken.

Nah it wasn't the most exciting pretty match of Rugby League ever. The final score was expected, and perhaps the Scots didn't live up to the post match billing of their fullback and Manly grand final hero Michael Robertson who stated 'Scotland would be the biggest surprise packet of the rugby league World Cup'. There was heart and players playing with pride for their country and the Scots did surprise today.

For the French, well they did enough to win, but did little to stamp their mark on the tournament as a threat. At least one player did, Jerome Guisset led like a General.

So critics of the World Cup will have to wait another day for the first massively lop-sided score-line. Hopefully the referee's in pink is the only thing that the arm-chair critics are left to nit-pick about.

Referees are hated enough, why did we give the fans an extra reason to yell abuse at them. But at least it was a laugh to see men in kilts yelling out obscenities about the feminine nature of the referee attire. At least they were wearing pants.


France hold off Brave Scotland to win World Cup opener
Sun October 26, 2008
France has begun their World Cup campaign in fine fashion, with a solid 36-18 win over Scotland in their opening match of the World Cup today.

The early exchanges were tight as both teams looked to find each other out, with the majority of the French attack coming through the middle and the use of their big forwards Adel Fellous and Olivier Elima.

It was Fellous who got the ball rolling for the French with a break from just on half way, with Jared Taylor linking up with Fellous from fullback to score the first try of their campaign.

It didn't take long for the Scots to hit back though, with a French forward pass leading to some good field position for the Braveheart's, and Jon Steel made the most of it with a try in the corner from a neat Lee Patterson pass.

The Scots were denied another try shortly after to Duncan MacGillivary, when a Danny Brough kick was knocked on from Scottish fullback Michael Robertson.

Former Canberra Raiders player and French Captain Jerome Guisset scored on his former home ground, to give the French a 12-6 lead ten minutes out from halftime when Thomas Bosc converted.

Maxime Greseque gave the French another attacking opportunity from the restart with a booming 40-20 kick, and John wilson made the most of the opportunity as he latched on to a neat Bosc cross-field kick to put them 18-6 when Bosc converted.

It was Scotland however who came out firing in the second half through Oliver Wilkes, who latched onto a fireball pass from halfback Danny Brough. When Brough converted it was in the balance again at 18-12

France took some time to warm up after halftime and it was Thomas Bosc who provided the wake-up call, with a kick through to centre Sebastien Raguin and a conversion to give France another 12 point advantage at 24-12.

James Wynne kicked the French's second 40-20 to give them another chance after the restart, but it was Scotland who was next to score with Dean Colton scoring out wide. Brough's second sideline conversion made it 24-18 with 20 minutes to play.

Scotland went close again with fifteen to play, but the video referee Phil Cooley ruled a knock on to deny them a chance at leveling the score line.

Guisset ensured it was a happy homecoming to Canberra Stadium when he picked up his second with six minutes left. Hooker Julien Rinaldi sent a grubber through, and while Scottish fullback Michael Robertson appeared to have it covered, Guisset pulled off a one-on-one strip to crash over.

France scored again to complete the win, and take home the opening points in pool two of the World Cup.

The only injury concern for France was second row forward Eric Anselme who was taken from the field with concussion, but he was cleared of any further injury by team medical staff.

Sun October 26, 2008
• Guisset gets a double on return to Canberra
  
Sat October 25, 2008
• A taste of Canberra Stadium for France
  

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