Scotland v France reaction: Stuart Hogg on the last-gasp penalty chance which went wrong

Stuart Hogg was left kicking himself after squandering a late opportunity to salvage a draw against France.

Scotland captain Stuart Hogg is consoled at full time after his late penalty error. Picture: Ross Parker / SNS

Scotland lost 22-15 at BT Murrayfield but secured a bonus point in the closely-fought Autumn Nations Cup clash.

With his side seven points down and the clock already in the red, Hogg tried to find touch in the corner with a penalty to give Gregor Townsend’s men a lineout within striking distance of the French line.

But the Scotland captain overhit his kick and Fabien Galthie’s team were able to clinch the win which has put them firmly on course for the Nations Cup final in a fortnight, as long as they do not suffer a slip against Italy next week.

“I thought for 78 minutes of that game we were in control. We thought we nullified everything that France were coming here to do,” said a frustrated Hogg.

“But unfortunately we’ve made a couple of mistakes and you can't do that in international rugby. It’s as simple as that.

“We shut France down. They wanted to bring a running game but all they did was kick to us.

“We can take a huge amount of confidence away from the way we defended but there are some disappointed boys there and rightly so.”

Asked about his late penalty gaffe, Hogg said: “I made a schoolboy error, it’s as simple as that, but look, I thought we played well for 78 minutes of that game.

“A couple of mistakes didn’t quite go our way and we're old enough and ugly enough now to realise we've made a mistake. I don’t need to be told a million times about it.”

The game swung on Virimi Vakatawa’s try early in the second half. France worked a smart move from a scrum as Scotland switched off momentarily.

“The positive thing is we realise where we’ve made mistakes,” added Hogg. “We can go back to the drawing board and try to make amends.

“But the frustrating thing is we know we’re a lot better than that.”

It was France’s first win in Scotland since 2014 and brings to an end a run of five successive victories for Gregor Townsend’s side.

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