Scotland's last win in Paris made them champions

It was the year 1999 in the 5 Nations championship and Scotland travelled to Paris knowing that a win was needed to keep alive their 5 Nations title ambitions, with England playing Wales later in the day looking to secure a Grandslam.

Scotland went into the France game after securing home wins against Wales and Ireland but lost out to England at Twickenham leaving them in 2nd spot going into the final round of games.

Scotland got off to the worst smart imaginable going behind to an early try from Ntamack with France looking for a win to avoid the wooden spoon. However Scotland’s response was emphatic as they went over for three tries in seven minutes to take a commanding 21-5 lead. Scotland continued to dominate and picked up two more tries from Lesley and Tait, going into the second half leading 33-19. The second half was not as high scoring with Scotland holding on for a 36-22 win. Now it was over to England.

With two minutes left on the clock England led 31-25 and were on their way to a Grandslam only for Scott Gibbs to produce a moment of brilliance to go over the whitewash and  Neil Jenkins added the extras to give them a 32-31 lead. England pushed for a late score with Mike Catt missing a drop goal and Wales hung on for the win. 

The result was good enough for Scotland to be crowned the 5 Nations champions. The win in Paris was one of the biggest wins in Scotland’s history as it was the game that won them their 15th championship. 

Ciaran Fallon