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'We've given ourselves an opportunity', says Tuipulotu after win over France / Photo: ANDY BUCHANAN - AFP
'We've given ourselves an opportunity', says Tuipulotu after win over France
Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu was proud of his side for earning a chance to win the Six Nations with a dazzling 50-40 victory over France at Murrayfield on Saturday.
"We've given ourselves an opportunity, it's something the Scotland team hasn't done before, is go and get into the last week with everything to play for," Tuipulotu said.
Both France and Scotland have 16 points heading into next Saturday's concluding fixtures, although the French have an advantage of 58 in points difference over the Scots.
France, who face England, will retain their title if they match Scotland's result against Ireland in Dublin -- unless both lose and the Irish sneak past to win the Six Nations instead.
Scotland led 19-14 when they declined a kickable penalty, and three points, early in the second half. Instead scrum-half Ben White slipped over for a try that ignited a four-score burst to give the hosts a 47-14 lead.
"We were ourselves out there," said Australia-born centre Tuipulotu.
"We were aggressive with our play-calling, we had penalties, we didn't take threes, we went to the corner and we pressed the issue with a good French team.
"I felt like we lived and died by our identity today."
Scotland will have to end an 11-match losing streak against Ireland to stay in title contention.
"They seem to raise their game against us," said Scotland coach Gregor Townsend. "We'll need a huge effort."
France's cause was not helped by yellow cards for fly-half Matthieu Jalibert and replacement Lenni Nouchi.
"It is normal for the Scots to win this match," said disappointed France coach Fabien Galthie. "They played a great match. They took us in the basics of the rugby."
But the former France scrum-half added: "We are in a race to win the competition. We have a game in Paris on Saturday night at the Stade de France. It's our daily life. We know we have to go through this."
Antoine Dupont made errors that led to two tries for the home side, with Kyle Steyn intercepting a loose pass and Tom Jordan scoring after a rare knock-on by the France scrum-half.
"I made two costly mistakes," said captain Dupont. "Maybe we should not focus on individual performance but maybe we need to think as a group about how to avoid getting into these situations."
Q.Bernardi--INP
