LONDON • France rugby coach Fabien Galthie praised his team's ability to get results after Les Bleus claimed their third win in a row by beating Scotland 22-15 at Murrayfield in the Autumn Nations Cup on Sunday.

France, who were suffering from a lack of consistency before Galthie took over earlier this year, have now won six of seven Tests under their new coach.

"I'm satisfied by the victory, which is the ultimate goal. And also totally satisfied with the players' behaviour and this series of three wins against Celtic nations," he said of his team, who also beat Wales in a friendly and Ireland in a coronavirus-delayed Six Nations finale last month.

Centre Virimi Vakatawa scored the only try early in the second half in Edinburgh after combining with winger Vincent Rattez following a line-out.

"It was part of the plan," said Galthie. "We prepare our line-outs according to our opponents. This time it worked, it was a two-pass try that allowed us to score points without spending too much energy."

France will now have to work with a revamped squad for their last Group B match against Italy following an agreement between the federation and the league which allows each player to feature on a maximum of three team sheets over the autumn Tests.

"There is no frustration. We did what we had to do," said Galthie, who will be without scrum-half and Six Nations Player of the Championship, Antoine Dupont, who has played three Tests.

France lead Group B with nine points, having been awarded a 28-0 victory against Fiji after the game was cancelled following a string of Covid-19 cases within the Pacific Islanders' team.

Scotland are second on six points and Italy - Les Bleus' opponents at the Stade de France on Saturday - are one point further adrift. The final round of closed-door Tests will be staged the following weekend.

REUTERS