Scotland’s Greig Laidlaw takes heart from the narrow defeat by France

Greig Laidlaw, the Scotland captain, said there were some good building blocks for the World Cup despite the defeat by France. Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images

For Scotland there is little consolation in the fact that they deserved a victory in Paris more than England a fortnight earlier. They must wait for a first triumph at the Stade this century after a dramatic night in St Denis. But Vern Cotter’s side could certainly not have come closer to a win or at least a draw in their final warm-up for this autumn’s World Cup.

The decision to run a kickable penalty as the clock ticked into the red zone was either a brave one by Greig Laidlaw or enormous folly. As it was, Scotland were unable to score the try they were seeking despite the best efforts of Sean Maitland and France clung on for the win they just about deserved. Cotter said: “The boys wanted to win. They felt they could get over the line. The game was about testing ourselves. The decision to run the ball was the players’ and I back it.”

In the end the sides were separated only by a long-distance penalty in the second half by France’s excellent full-back Scott Spedding. France will point to a first-half try by Wesley Fofana that was disallowed for a forward pass by his centre partner Mathieu Bastareaud; Scotland will point to Yoann Huget’s hauling down of Mark Bennett during the visitors’ late siege.

They are small margins, just as many in Scotland’s 18 defeats by the French since they last won in Paris in 1999, but the loss will gnaw at them until they play their opening World Cup game against Japan this month. The captain, Laidlaw, added: “There are some good building-blocks for the World Cup but the game was there for the taking and that was a tough one to take.”

Scotland were enormously spirited in taking on the physical challenge of the French pack which had its captain, Thierry Dusautoir, back in the back row. The Scottish scrum stayed strong despite the loss of the loosehead Alasdair Dickinson with a knock to the head after only six minutes. His replacement, Gordon Reid of Glasgow Warriors, dealt well with the power of first Rabah Slimani and then the wily Nicolas Mas.

But it was the lineout where things went wrong for Scotland. Normally a source of strength, Alexandre Flanquart and Pascal Papé made life difficult for the Gray brothers. “I would rather the lineout creaked this week than in the World Cup and we have time to get that right,” added Laidlaw.

Laidlaw and Frédéric Michalak spent the first half trading penalties and Scotland led at the interval, the French fly-half scuffing an early kick at goal. But France’s forwards stepped up a gear afterwards and it needed a tremendous defensive effort from Scotland to cling on. When Tommy Seymour scored a breakaway try after a slip by Spedding, though, Scotland looked as if they could pull off an unexpected win.

A turning point came when David Denton was shown a yellow card. The loss of the No8 enabled the French to generate extra power at the scrums and Noa Nakaitaci pounced. The replacement scrum-half, Morgan Parra, had a blindside dart and Spedding slipped a pass to the wing for the winning try which Parra converted.

Dusautoir and all France were relieved and Les Bleus are back on track after a dreadful Six Nations. France’s captain would not be drawn into making comparisons between Scotland and the England he watched in Paris but he added: “Scotland were always going to be tough. They are certainly fitter than they were. That was a hard game and we came close to losing it.”

Another defeat, then, for Scotland but plenty to ponder and this time the whisky glass does look half full.

France Spedding; Huget, Bastareaud, Fofana (Dumoulin, 34), Nakaitaci; Michalak (Tales, 72), Tillous-Borde (Parra, 59); Ben Arous (Debaty, 55), Guirado (Szarzewski, 55), Slimani (Mas, 55), Papé (Le Roux, 52), Flanquart, Dusautoir (capt), Chouly, Picamoles (Nyanga, 65).

Try Nakaitaci. Con Parra. Pens Michalak 3, Spedding.

Scotland Maitland; Seymour (Lamont, 67), Bennett, Scott, Visser; Russell, Laidlaw (capt); Dickinson (Reid, 6), Ford (Brown, 65), Nel (Welsh, 68), R Gray, J Gray (Swinson, 62), Wilson (Strokosch, 54), Hardie, Denton.

Sin-bin Denton, 72.

Try Seymour. Con Laidlaw. Pens Laidlaw 3.

Referee W Barnes (England). Attendance 51,227.