Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s late try proved pivotal as France dug out a dramatic 20-16 Guinness Six Nations victory over Scotland at Murrayfield – but only after a controversial decision not to award the hosts a try in the last action of the match.

Les Bleus – who lost 38-17 at home to Ireland in their opener last weekend – looked in danger of starting the championship with back-to-back defeats as they trailed for most of the match after Ben White’s seventh-minute try.

However, Bielle-Biarrey’s moment of inspiration in the 70th minute allowed the French – who had scored in the first half through Gael Fickou – to get themselves in front.

The Scots – looking to make it back-to-back wins after their triumph in Wales last weekend – staged a late rally and thought they had claimed the victory when they forced their way over the line after the 80-minute mark, but following a lengthy TMO review, it was deemed they had not grounded the ball.

Scotland – already missing key back-three members Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham through injury – were forced into a late change in the back division when wing Kyle Steyn withdrew after his wife went into labour. The uncapped Harry Paterson, who was not in the initial 23, was enlisted to start at full-back, with Kyle Rowe – due to be starting in the 15 jersey – shifting to the wing.

The Scots went ahead with a superbly worked try in the seventh minute, with some quick passing from Duhan van der Merwe, Paterson and Huw Jones on the right paving the way for Toulon scrum-half White, who did well to avoid dropping the ball before holding off the attention of two Frenchmen trying to grapple him as he slid gleefully over the line. Finn Russell converted.

The visitors got their first points in the 12th minute through a Thomas Ramos penalty. And they looked certain to get themselves in front three minutes later when Fickou saw a gap on the left and went for it, but Van der Merwe got back to made a vital challenge just before the line, which was deemed by the officials to be legal, much to the frustration of Les Bleus.

The Scots generally looked the more assured of the two sides, however, and a couple of Russell penalties in the 22nd minute and then just before the half hour, nudged them 10 points clear.

A stark reminder of the French threat came in the 31st minute when they worked an opening on the right for Fickou who forced his way over the line despite the best efforts of Jones to halt him. Ramos converted, bringing his team within three points of their hosts.

The French – who played the majority of the Ireland game with 14 men last weekend – suffered a blow two minutes before the interval when Uini Atonio was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Matt Fagerson.

The Scots were camped in front of the French line for the closing minutes of the first half but were unable to reward themselves with further points as they went in at the interval with a slender 13-10 lead.

Fagerson – who had been in the wars in the first half – was replaced by Saracens back-rower for the start of the second period.

Following his indiscipline, Atonio would have been hugely relieved to return to the fray with no further scoreline damage incurred by his side.

There was a sense that the failure to take advantage of the prop’s time in the sin bin might come back to bite them, but another penalty from Russell in the 59th minute opened up a six-point advantage and eased some of the tension among the home support.

Just as the hosts looked to have a good level of control, France turned the game in their favour in the 70th minute when Bielle-Biarrey raced on to his own kick over the top and touched down on the left. Ramos converted to put Les Bleus a point ahead.

The full-back then added a penalty in the 77th minute, ensuring the Scots would need a try to won the game. They momentarily thought they had it in the dying moments before the officials cut short their celebrations.

Blair Kinghorn has been ruled out of Scotland’s first two Guinness Six Nations matches with a knee injury, paving the way for Kyle Rowe to make his first international start at full-back in Saturday’s opener in Wales.

The Toulouse number 15 becomes the second member of Scotland’s first-choice back three to be ruled out of the match in Cardiff and the following weekend’s visit from France, with free-scoring Edinburgh wing Darcy Graham also absent due to quad tightness.

Rowe’s only previous cap came away to Argentina in July 2022 when he came on as a substitute and lasted only 10 minutes before damaging his ACL, resulting in him being sidelined for most of the following year.

The 25-year-old has been in good form for Glasgow this term, scoring seven tries, including three in his last two outings before meeting up with the national team.

Kyle Steyn, who recently returned after three months out, and Duhan van der Merwe will start on the wings.

Recently-appointed co-captain Rory Darge has not recovered from a knee injury in time to feature so stand-off Finn Russell will skipper the side.

Previous skipper Jamie Ritchie, who lost the role last month, has been named as one of this weekend’s vice-captains and will start in the back-row alongside Matt Fagerson and Luke Crosbie, with Jack Dempsey – the first-choice number eight for most of last year – on the bench.

Ben White, Scotland’s preferred scrum-half for the majority of last year, is restored to the number-nine jersey after Ali Price took his place in the starting XV for the last two matches of the World Cup against Romania and Ireland.

Glasgow lock Scott Cummings starts in place of his suspended Edinburgh counterpart Grant Gilchrist.

Props Elliot Millar-Mills and Alec Hepburn – who was capped six times by England in 2018 – are both in line to make their Scotland debuts off the bench.

However, there is no place in the 23 for in-form Saracens back-rower Andy Christie who had been touted as a potential starter.

The Scots are eyeing a first victory in Cardiff for 22 years.

Blair Kinghorn is relishing his elevated status as Scotland’s first-choice World Cup full-back after spending most of his international career to date trying to emerge from the shadows of greats Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg.

The 26-year-old Edinburgh back has accumulated 47 caps since his debut in 2018, largely due to his versatility in being able to operate at number 15, number 10 and even on the wing.

In trying to establish himself at full-back, Kinghorn found Hogg – Scotland’s record try-scorer – blocking his way to a starting place, while his bid to become an international stand-off always seemed unlikely for as long as the talismanic Russell was still at the top of his game.

Hogg’s retirement earlier this summer, however, opened the door for Kinghorn to set about making the 15 jersey his own.

After starting the two summer Tests against France last month, it came as little surprise when he got the nod over the less experienced full-back Ollie Smith to start the World Cup opener against South Africa.

He is expected to retain his place for Sunday’s match against Tonga in Nice as the Scots bid to bounce back from their 18-3 defeat by the Springboks.

“I feel like there’s been a different focus this pre-season, coming into the World Cup feeling like I can grab a starting jersey,” he said.

“Being able to start at 15 is something I don’t want to let go of and something I don’t take lightly.

“I’m really excited about it. Everyone always wants to be starting for their country and now that I’ve had the opportunity to start the last game, and a couple of the warm-up games to start at 15, it’s been really exciting for me.

“There’s still a lot of competition in our squad for that jersey, everyone is pushing each other, so I’ve just got to keep training well and playing well, if selected, and hopefully I can hang on to it for a while longer.”

For much of 2022, amid tension between Gregor Townsend and Russell, it looked like Kinghorn was being primed as a Scotland fly-half.

However, with Russell and the head coach having patched up their differences last November, Kinghorn’s hopes of becoming number 10 for the national team were effectively dashed.

“I think so,” he said when asked if his focus was now fully on the full-back position. “I feel comfortable back there. I’ve got the ability to cover stand-off if needed but I feel like full-back is my best suited position at the moment, and I feel like that’s where I can offer the team my strengths.”

Kinghorn knows he has big boots to fill in succeeding Hogg, one of Scotland’s greatest ever players, but he is intent on playing the position his own way.

“Obviously Hoggy was a world-class player so over the last five years since I’ve been in camp with him I’ve been picking up little bits of knowledge here and there from him, but I’m looking to put my own game into that 15 jersey,” he said.

“A lot of players play in different styles and I think me and Hoggy have contrasting styles in certain ways, but I’ll be looking to put my own stamp on the position.”

Kinghorn is enjoying his second World Cup after going to Japan in 2019 as a 22-year-old. The back was a fringe man at the last showpiece, making just two appearances and only one as a starter. He feels he has developed significantly as a player and a person since then.

“I was inexperienced and quite young when I came to my first World Cup,” said Kinghorn. “You grow and mature into these situations and you realise how hard it is to stay at the top of your game for an entire pre-season and World Cup.

“You’ve got to take your preparation and your recovery seriously. I think when you’re younger you’re a bit naive to how much work it actually takes so I feel like I’m a more mature player who has definitely dealt with a bit more life experience within rugby and I can handle situations a bit better.”