Scotland couldn't push past France

Scotland could not end their 16-year wait for a win in Paris despite Dougie Fife scoring the only try as they went down 15-8 to France in their RBS 6 Nations opener.

Camille Lopez proved to be Philippe Saint-Andre's match-winner with five penalties - three in the first half and two after the break.

The Scots countered with a Greig Laidlaw kick before Fife - an early replacement for the injured Tommy Seymour - touched down on the stroke of half-time.

But when the skipper hit the woodwork with his conversion attempt, the hosts at the Stade de France clung on to a slender half-time lead and did not give the Dark Blues a sniff from then on out.

There was little in the history books to give Scotland hope ahead of the clash but Vern Cotter's side still looked confident as they strutted into the huge 80,000-seat arena.

With largely the same side which did so well against Argentina, New Zealand and Tonga in the autumn, the new coach aimed to sack the French capital for only the third time in 46 years.

The Scots handed tournament debuts to Blair Cowan, Finn Russell and Mark Bennett but were without the injured duo of Sean Maitland and Matt Scott, while Les Bleus - wearing a red kit for the first time in 56 years after ditching their traditional white change attire - gave South Africa-born scrum-half Rory Kockott his first cap.

There was barely a minute on the clock when Cowan gifted the hosts an early penalty and Lopez punished his indiscipline as he knocked his kick over with the help of a post.

But the Scots did not look fazed by the London Irish forward's mistake and dug in to repel a couple of French surges.

Russell settled well, selling Lopez a lovely dummy, while Richie Gray took the initiative with some decent carries before a collapsed scrum allowed Laidlaw to level things with his first penalty.

Les Bleus - or Les Rouges as they were in their new kit - swarmed back up field from the kick-off and claimed another penalty as they stretched Cotter's men one way then the other, with Lopez making no mistake with his kick.

With devastating power and some clever offloads from the likes of Mathieu Bastareaud and Damien Chouly, the Scots were forced to scramble more than once as they held on.

In the face of such impressive attacking talent, Cotter's men knew it was imperative they took their chances when they came along. Stuart Hogg tried with a penalty from two yards inside his own half while Russell went for a drop goal, but neither could slot through the posts.

The Scots were growing in confidence but another indiscretion at the breakdown by Rob Harley allowed Lopez to boot over again.

The Dark Blue response was first class. They muscled up field and, after pushing to within a yard of the whitewash, kept their composure to feed the ball wide for Bennett and then Euan Murray, who kept it simple as he made sure Fife dived over in the corner.

Laidlaw's conversion hit the upright as the French clung on for a slender half-time lead.

France steadied themselves as the game restarted and were able to extend their lead when Scotland's try scorer suffered a rush of blood to the head.

Fife tried and failed to keep Lopez's kick for touch in and after slumping to his backside he petulantly threw the ball away. Welsh referee Nigel Owens was not amused - neither was Fife as Lopez nailed the penalty given against him.

Harley was replaced by Alasdair Strokosch after 53 minutes - but was called back into action moments later as Cowan suffered a bump to the head.

France swept forward again but some brave Scottish resistance held them up a yard from scoring, while Lopez missed for the first time with his boot soon after.

But Scottish hopes of overhauling the four-point deficit were hit though when they lost Johnnie Beattie to the sin-bin with just under 20 minutes left.

The Castres number eight was punished for clattering into the side of a ruck as France pressed into the Scots' 22.

It was the last thing Cotter's team needed as they chased a historic win in the French capital.

Another Lopez penalty put daylight between the teams and ensured Scotland would have to wait until the summer - when they return in World Cup warm-up action - to put right their Parisian track record.