Tries from Sean Maitland and Chris Harris may have earned Scotland revenge over France – but captain Greig Laidlaw praised the Scottish defence for the victory.
After a slow start in which Damian Penaud scored twice for France, Scotland fought back and tries either side of half time and seven points from the boot of Laidlaw earned a 17-14 victory.
After last week’s 32-3 defeat in the south of France, Laidlaw was keen to praise the whole team as they bounced back at a sold-out BT Murrayfield to continue their build up for the World Cup.
Laidlaw said: “We were under pressure [last week in training]. You always are playing for this jersey, it demands pressure and it demands a performance.
“We did not start the match as we planned today but we dug in deep and scored more points than France today and in rugby it is about winning.
“I am extremely proud because we did not start very well and we dug in deep and had trust in the group and our defence today was absolutely superb.
“That is the standard our defence needs to be at and it went a long way to winning us the game.”
Man of the match Hamish Watson believes it was important to get a win under their belt as they prepare for their next two games against Georgia and ahead of the World Cup.
Scotland travel to Tbilisi next Saturday before returning to BT Murrayfield a week later for a return match.
And Watson says game-time is key for several in the squad who have not played too much in recent months.
Watson said: “After last weekend we knew how good the French team were and we knew we had to be at our best to beat them and I think we fronted up well and there is lots still to work on.
“We have two more summer Tests to work on that.
“We had to come here to BT Murrayfield and win after the defeat last week. We lost a few on the bounce at during the Guinness Six Nations, so we demanded a win and it is important to build momentum going into the Georgia games and the World Cup.
“We still have a lot to put right, it is only our second game. Some of the boys like myself and the Edinburgh players have not played for three and a half to four months, so it is important we work on what we need to work on going into the Georgia game and build it right through to the World Cup.”
