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THOMAS RAMOS SCORED 20 points as France bulldozed Scotland 35-16 in Paris to claim the Six Nations title.
After Ireland and England both won earlier on Super Saturday, Les Bleus needed to beat the visitors at the Stade de France and did so with a four-try, bonus-point victory.
Ramos’ haul included a try as part of a 19-point blitz in 20 minutes just after the interval which sealed France’s second championship in four years.
France coach Fabien Galthie was forced into two changes from last weekend’s huge victory over holders Ireland as scrum-half Maxime Lucu and centre Gael Fickou came in for the injured Antoine Dupont and Pierre-Louis Barassi.
Scotland’s Gregor Townsend also made a couple of alterations with lock Gregor Brown making his first Six Nations debut and Matt Fagerson in at No 8 from last Saturday’s nervy win over Wales.
The biggest cheer from the expectant crowd in the opening 10 minutes was when France talisman Dupont appeared on the stadium’s big screen, a week on from suffering a serious knee injury against Ireland.
France controlled the opening quarter to lead 10-0 thanks to a Moefana try sandwiched between a Ramos penalty and conversion, with the seven-pointer coming with Scotland flanker Jamie Ritchie in the sin bin.
By the 25-minute mark, the hosts were down a man themselves as hooker Peato Mauvaka was yellow carded for a headbutt on scrum-half Ben White.
- Record-breaker Ramos -
Russell cut the deficit before Ramos reinstated the 10-point advantage to make it 13-3, which moved him ahead of Frederic Michalak on 436 points as Les Bleus’ all-time leading points scorer.
With Mauvaka off, Russell found his groove with the visitors on the up, to set up winger Darcy Graham.
The maverick playmaker’s conversion made it 13-10 with half an hour played.
Mauvaka returned only to cross paths with prop Jean-Baptiste Gros, who was sent to the bin before Russell brought the sides level with a penalty.
Ramos re-established the three-point lead three minutes from the interval but Scotland ended the half the better and were denied the lead, as Kinghorn’s foot was adjudged to be in touch in the build-up to Tom Jordan’s try.
Just after the break, France put Scotland’s hopes to bed as home winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored a record-equalling eighth try in one campaign of the Six or Five Nations, benefitting from a Graham knock-on.
Ramos added the extras to make it a 10-point game with 35 minutes left before Galthie introduced five from an unusual seven forwards on the bench.
The changes among the pack had the desired effect as a dominant rolling maul led to Ramos strolling over just before the hour mark.
His sixth successful kick at goal made it 30-16, with no way back for Townsend’s tiring team, and sent the jubilant home fans in full voice with a mid-game rendition of La Marseillaise.
A second try from Moefana, again from a Fickou pass in the final quarter made sure of victory and the title.
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What about single use cable ties used for single use corrugated election posters?
@John Tierney: How many take out boxes are sold a day – 500 thousand? With lots of lunches in polystyrene etc, probably a bit more. I say this because there’s about 500,000 posters per election, so maybe a million cable ties… Now there’s comfortably as much plastic in a take away box as two cable ties, right. So yeah… maybe you’re focusing on the wrong thing and it’s kind of unhelpful? So let’s focus on the problem that’s 365 times bigger, yeah?
@Ciarán Ó Fallúin: But how will he deflect away from the real problem if he’s not allowed to bring up “single use cable ties “………….
@Ciarán Ó Fallúin: keep your pants on yeah? It’s a valid point – the councillors proposing the ban are happy to use non recyclable posters and cable ties every election. At some point you’d like to see them lead by example.
Also, I don’t believe the original comment suggested one or the other – both are possible yeah?
Oh, the outrage!!!
@John Tierney: out of curiosity, how many days are the election posters allowed to stay up after an election? I thought it was three but im thinking I must have it wrong as most ive seen are still there?
@John Tierney: Reusable cable ties are available. I suspect that they are not used because it’s much easier and quicker to cut them then to climb up and release the locking clip. Reusable cable ties should be made mandatory as it would eliminate wastage and reduce costs long term.
@John Tierney: leave cable ties alone
@Daimhín De Naois: It’s 7 days, I believe.
If you see any still up after 7 days, you can report them to the local council for littering.
https://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/environment/topics/waste/litter/Pages/Election-Posters0331-3567.aspx
@John Tierney: cable ties can be recycled and are not food contaminated.
@Darren Byrne: ah ha, I obviously had remembered wrong! Thank you Chris!!
@John Tierney: Cable ties need not be single use … just put a pin in the part where the teeth is and they slide apart with no damage. The elections cable ties they sometimes leave behind on poles are particularly good quality – must restock my collection before they are all taken away :)
@John Tierney: I’m only going to say this once and I’m fairly certain I speak for everyone when I say “paper straws are not the solution”
@Rossa Crowe: hell yes. Paper straws are rank. They’ve begun to disintegrate before you finish your drink. Drinking through soggy cardboard is disgusting. I’m all for banning single use plastic straws, but there must be a better alternative than cardboard.
@Helen Downey: ha true – try drink Mc donalds thick milkshake with those paper straws – absolutely useless – there are 100 major global corporations responsible for 70% of the carbon emissions – until the world can get to grips and take them to task all this other stuff is skirting around the issue in reality
Remarkable how this became such an important environmental issue so soon after China decided they no longer wanted to be the west’s landfill.
@Gordon Comstock: Most stuff comes from there anyway. Bit rich to say they don’t want it back
@Gordon Comstock: didn’t most of that go into the sea.?
So NO minerals unless in Aluminum cans ! Bring back glass bottles.
@Paul Somers: ..compostable packaging and containers
@Paul Somers: aluminum cans have a plastic inner lining and glass takes longer than plastic to biodegrade if not recycled.
@Joey Roche: not true. Glass will not enter the food chain. Can be a habitat for insect and does not need to degrade it’s made from sand not chemicals
Return to glass
Country is awash with it .
@Joey Roche: 95% of aluminum cans are recycled. The plastic is dealt with in the recycling process. Also glass doesn’t biodegrade. It weathers away but bacteria, fungus and other little bugs don’t break it down.
@Quentin Moriarty: glass production and recycling produces a lot more CO2 than aluminium. It also is a lot heavier as a container and has higher emissions for transport.
@Darren Byrne: the glass is there already. the bottles have paid their carbon footprint and are easier to sterilize at high heat and be reused by the companies than plastic melting .
Well, at least it’s not a tax.
@Matt Connolly: don’t worry Matt, that’ll be coming soon!
@Matt Connolly: not yet
Can we not just bring in a ban by X date on anything and everything that has an alternative to plastic and be done with it? It’s like ban a straw here ban a spoon there
If you can’t recycle it here in this country you shouldn’t be allowed sell it. If we used this model for the food and beverage sector. Also make a rule that if Coca Cola produces plastic bottles then they have to take them back. Don’t be passing the burden onto local councils. We should use toughened glass bottles instead of plastic. Our supermarkets should take back all the packaging that the give us when we do our shopping.
@great gael of Eire: it would certainly push manufacturing companies into using less packaging if they had to pay to dispose of it. or it would just drive up the cost as they pass it onto to us
@LittleBee: if they pass on the price then you’ll have a fall in sales. Bearing in mind when they introduced plastic profits went through the roof to the detriment of our environment. What is wrong with a €0.50c deposit scheme on glass bottles.
How are they gonna tax Joe Public for this.
Im sure they will.
All about the money .
There are inexpensive alternatives that many businesses are already using like bamboo utensils and biodegradable containers. It would be good to see more businesses moving towards sustainability.
I walk my glass bottles and jars down to recycle happily and no longer buy minerals in plastic. Sadly, some stores only carry plastic bottled drinks. It’s up to the consumer to refuse to buy single use plastics; get on board people!
@Rathminder: but your glass bottle is producing more Co2 than the plastic once and since both can be recycled wouldn’t it make sense to take the less Co2 intensive option
Also the transportation of the glass bottle has higher emissions because of the extra weight.
https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2008/03/17/Study-finds-glass-bottling-produces-similar-carbon-emissions-to-PET.
@Darren Byrne: you can use and reuse glass bottles. Wash and reuse. Forget about emissions think more about our oceans, seas and rivers are clogged with plastic bottles. Plastic that the mineral companies take zero responsibility for. When we eat fish for the sea. Its Its likely we are consuming plastic without realizing it.
@great gael of Eire: Yes I do that with my beer bottled but the op is not. Mistakingly buying glass and recycling thinking it’s better than buying plastic and recycling that.
@Darren Byrne: is that why its has worked so well up to now. The worlds water ways are destroyed with single use plastic. Walk down the road and its everywhere. Recycling plastic has not worked.
Coke never sell recycled bottles. Why not? They don’t care about the environment as long as they keep making money.
Can people not drink out of cups and eat with cutlery off plates? If I’m thirsty when I’m out I just wait til I get where I’m going and then have some tap water. People look ridiculous walking around with drinks all the time. Why was it that 20 years ago people didn’t seem so thirsty?
@SC: They weren’t as big a bunch of a_holes back 20/30 years ago.
Going forward you will be required to hand over your shoe at McDonald’s which will then be stuffed with a Big Mac and fries and Fanta is sprayed into your mouth, ready to swallow at a time of your choosing.
Nice one Barry, keep it up!
Dead right excellent idea went by a river today disgusting amount of plastic
Al plastic should be chipped and ownership taken
Take away coffee cups.
City centre, ask any street cleaners or bin collection staff in the city centre, and they will day that’s the biggest waste. Start with dlr and then city centre.
A change in thinking is required by coffee shops in city centre.
How can you just decide to ban everything plastic? I’m all for it , but I’d prefer if this article stated what was going to replace it. You’re talking about massive changes , but yet the companies that produced plastic have no intention of stopping production till 2040. Their also the same companies that produce our oil gas & coal & they have absolutely no intention of allowing their massive profits to decline!
So with single use plastics, how is this going vto work when is comes to food safety, contamination and containment? Back to news paper wrappings?
@Raven: what’s wrong with newspaper wrappings? the chip shops use them and brown paper bags. while it’s not recyclable they will break down in land fill. folding cardboard boxes can be used as well. there are so many alternatives then plastic. Offer discounts if you use your own tub.
One of our best tourist attractions.
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