Scotland centre Tom Jordan rued the impact of his try being disallowed at a pivotal point in Paris as France regained their poise to claim the Guinness Six Nations title.
The Scots appeared to have Les Bleus on the ropes in the second quarter and, after Darcy Graham had cancelled out Yoram Moefana’s try, they thought they were about to go in leading at half-time when Jordan finished after a sensational line-break from Blair Kinghorn.
However, with Finn Russell lining up a conversion that could have put the visitors 20-16 up at the break, the referee was informed by the TMO that Kinghorn’s elbow had gone into touch and the tense French – who needed a win to beat England to the title – breathed a sigh of relief.
Fabien Galthie’s side capitalised on this reprieve to score at the start of the second half through Louis Bielle-Biarrey before further tries from Thomas Ramos and Moefana allowed the hosts’ party to begin.
“It was a great run from all the boys and then Finn (Russell) put me through and I just sort of pinballed through and got over,” said Glasgow back Jordan.
“We were unfortunate to get it disallowed and then just after half-time, we had a really good attack but they ran the length to score and the momentum kind of swung.
“That was a couple of things that potentially, if they went our way and we had a bit more scoreboard pressure, it might have been a different game.
“I guess you’ve got to bounce back from those moments a little bit but we just had two negatives probably before and after half-time and unfortunately that sort of swung the momentum of the game. But overall, I’m proud of the boys for the effort we put into it.”
For a second year in succession, Scotland finished fourth with just two wins from five, but New Zealand-born Jordan’s displays across his first Six Nations counted as one of the obvious positives from their campaign.
“It’s been awesome,” said the 26-year-old, who will join Bristol this summer. “I’m really grateful just for every opportunity I’ve gotten. I loved every moment getting out there.
“And to play in the Stade de France was awesome. It was an absolutely unbelievable atmosphere, crazy.
“It’s bucket-list for most players to play there. I’m gutted we didn’t get the win but it was an incredible experience. It’s been a great few months, it’s sort of flown by and I’ve just really enjoyed every moment.”
