'One of my greatest victories with the France team': Conquering Scotland is huge for Les Bleues

Alldritt hails his team for pulling rabbit out of hat when they needed it most

There was no disputing the magnitude of this win for France. “It's one of my greatest victories with the France team,” said their captain Gregory Alldritt, whose embattled XV hauled themselves off the canvas following a brutal opening-night Six Nations defeat by Ireland and a battering from their media.

"Honestly, there are many, many emotions,” said Alldritt. “It's perhaps a bit stupid what I'm going to say, but it's one of my greatest victories with the France team. We had a complicated week. We have really become closer between us. We wanted to do it for us and we did it. I'm very happy for some players and the group. I say it again, it is one of my greatest victories with the fifteen of France.

When asked to expand on which players he was most pleased with – criticism of scrum-half Maxime Lucu was particularly venomous – Alldritt responded: “There is no need to cite them. You all know this very well. We are high-level athletes. I love articles when they are positive. I also read them when they are negative. It becomes an essence for me on the weekend. Some players showed a lot of character. No one is surprised in the France group because we know them well. We know what they are capable of. They had the full trust of the entire group.”

France's scrum-half Maxime Lucu (C) and France's flanker Charles Ollivon (R) celebrate with fans after beating Scotland.

Aldritt was also convinced that the decision not to award Scotland’s Sam Skinner a late try was justified. “When we see the first angle on the big screen, for me it is definitely no try and we are just waiting on the decision,” he said. “I could not imagine a try.” His head coach Fabien Galthie waded in with some sarcasm. "It was very good for the audience and the suspense. It is a fantastic idea to check video for four minutes. The audience is at its maximum level. The advertising and the audience, the show is up. But at the end we are happy."

France take on Italy at home in two weeks time and Alldritt expects this win to spur them on. “We had worked on this a lot this week. We knew what they were going to do and we adapted pretty well,” the No 8 added. “Above all, we didn't give up. We managed to score again after them, we held up well at the end of the first half, we didn't give up for 80 minutes. It was very hard but the ending was magnificent in terms of emotion.”

• Scotland verdict: Cruel end against France but hosts will rue missed opportunity - they should have won this Six Nations match