After some emphatic defeats to southern hemisphere opposition last year, France coach Marc Lievremont is under pressure to get off to a winning Six Nations start in Paris
There was cause for optimism after Scotland's autumn international campaign, but coach Andy Robinson will have been all too aware that a win in Paris in a Six Nations opener is a massive ask
Some observers do not give the Scots a prayer of beating the French, although Alastair Kellock looks like he's asking for some divine intervention before kick-off
The French get off to a flier when Maxime Medard collects a grubber kick from Aurelien Rougerie to score with barely two minutes gone, before Morgan Parra adds the conversion to make it 7-0
The onslaught continues but Scotland do well to withstand some concerted early French pressure
Despite France's early dominance, Robinson's side get on the scoreboard when Kellock forces his way over to reduce the arrears to five points (10-5)
Scotland trail 17-7 at half-time, and it looks ominous for the visitors when Imanol Harinordoquy races over after taking an audacious between-the-legs pass from Francois Trinh-Duc to extend the lead to 15 points
In a thoroughly entertaining encounter, Scotland again summon the spirit to bounce back, with Kelly Brown (pictured) crashing over before Dan Parks converts
France are at their irresistible best however, and after another sublime passing movement, Damien Traille scores another five points, which Dimitri Yachvili converts to make it 31-14
Scotland's gutsy performance yields one more try from Sean Lamont (pictured) but it is ultimately a convincing 34-21 win for the champions
Scotland can take many positives from their spirited and, at times, enterprising display but their dejection is nonetheless apparent at the final whistle
The French players were booed off the Stade de France pitch last year following their defeat to the All Blacks, but Les Bleus have won over their home support again with this stylish victory
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