SCOTLAND have recorded their first back-to-back wins in the Six Nations Championship since 2013 thanks to a performance that merged adventure in attack with some determined defending. France’s defeat means that England will be champions whatever happens in the next round of games, as with eight points they are uncatchable.

After being under heavy pressure early on and finding themselves fortunate to be only 5-0 down, Scotland fought back with tries from Stuart Hogg and Duncan Taylor to lead 18-5 on the brink of half-time. But France reduced the deficit with a converted try in the last play of the half to throw the game back into the melting pot.

The crucial score was Scotland’s third try, from Tim Visser, which appeared to dispirit the French. It had been touch and go at times, but over the course of the match there was no denying that Scotland deserved the win.

France opened the scoring in the fifth minute, when Scotland were a man short due to a head knock from a tackle that ended Finn Russell’s game. Wingers Virimi Vakatawa and Wesley Fofana exchanged passes on the right, then the latter passed to captain Guilhem Guirado who finished the move off. Trinh-Duc missed the conversion attempt, and Peter Horne became the first substitute of the day.

Five minutes later, the Scotland defence was ruled offside. Trinh-Duc had a straightforward attempt at goal from 30 metres out and just right of the posts, but again was off target.

With 15 minutes played it was France’s turn to be penalised for offside, allowing Greig Laidlaw to open Scotland’s account from just inside the 22. Another five minutes later, and a knock-on by France led to the game’s first scrum. It was reset once, then a penalty for collapsing was awarded to Scotland, and from a virtually identical position to his first penalty, Laidlaw scored his second to put his team 6-5 ahead.

With seven minutes left in the half, Scotland went further ahead. A multi-phase attack through the middle was slowly gaining ground through the forwards, but then Peter Horne made a half-break into the French 22. Richie Gray took it on, and speedy recycling saw Laidlaw give a scoring pass to Hogg, who finished off from ten metres out.

Laidlaw’s conversion attempt went wide, but Scotland soon stretched their lead with another try. A French attack was turned over, then Scotland were awarded a penalty which Taylor took before setting off on a lung-bursting run up the right. The centre just had the legs to reach the line, and this time Laidlaw added the extra points.

France had time before the break to mount an attack, and they eventually scored in the second minute of overtime. A lineout drive began the move, and eventually Gael Fickou, with two team-mates outside him, found a gap and crossed the line. Maxime Machenaud took over the kicking duties and his accurate conversion made the score at the break 18-12.

If that was a massive morale boost for the French, Hogg’s 46th-minute penalty from just inside Scotland territory had a similar effect on Scotland. It had been an even start to the second half, but stretching the lead to nine points gave the home team some extra breathing space. France were soon back to a six-point deficit, however, thanks to another Machenaud penalty.

The visitors came close to reducing the gap further with a lineout drive that was held up illegally. Kicking the penalty to touch and attempting the same move, they coughed up possession and the chance was gone. With a little more than 20 minutes to play, however, Machenaud was on target with a penalty from 45m to make it 21-18.

Inside the final quarter, Ryan Wilson came on for Josh Strauss and France changed both props. One of them, Vincent Pelo, only lasted a couple of minutes before going off injured, meaning Jefferson Poirot came back on.

Scotland had hardly been in the French 22 in the second half, but with quarter of an hour to play they grabbed their third try. Alex Dunbar did the damage through the middle, Richie Gray and WP Nel took the ball to within metres, and then, playing penalty advantage, Laidlaw lobbed a pass out to the left wing. Flicked on by Hogg, the ball reached Tim Visser, who dived over to a rapturous reception.

Laidlaw failed to convert then, leaving the score at 26-18. But with five minutes to go the captain was on the mark with a penalty: 29-18.

Four minutes from time Fickou crossed the line, but the referee chalked it off for a forward pass. He had been playing penalty advantage, but the resultant lineout was halted and Scotland got the scrum.

SCOTLAND: Tries: Hogg, Taylor, Visser. Con: Laidlaw. Pens: Laidlaw 3, Hogg.

FRANCE: Tries: Guirado, Fickou. Con: Machenaud. Pens: Machenaud 2.

Scotland: S Hogg; T Seymour, D Taylor, A Dunbar, T Visser; F Russell (P Horne 6), G Laidlaw; A Dickinson, R Ford (S McInally 68), W Nel (M Low 73), R Gray (T Swinson 78), J Gray, J Barclay, J Hardie, J Strauss (R Wilson 62). Unused substitutes: R Sutherland, S Hidalgo-Clyne, S Lamont.

France: S Spedding; W Fofana, G Fickou, M Mermoz (M Medard 69), V Vakatawa; F Trinh-Duc (J Plisson 69), M Machenaud (S Bezy 75); J Poirot (U Atonio 62), G Guirado (C Chat 70), R Slimani (V Pelo 62), Y Maestri, A Flanquart (S Vahaamahina 52), W Lauret, Y Camara (L Goujon 65), D Chouly.

Referee: G Jackson (NZ). Attendance: 67,144.