Ireland, are you ready? The story behind Scotland's sensational Six Nations win over France

Their 50-40 victory over the multi-talented French must rank as the finest of Gregor Townsend's near nine-year tenure.

Records fell and those inside Murrayfield could barely believe what they were seeing. Never before have Scotland racked up a half century of points against the French.

There were 13 tries in total, seven for the hosts and six for France, across an extraordinary 82 minutes. Scotland led 47-14 at one point as they piled on the tries in the second half. France were stuttering and stumbling and even Antoine Dupont was making mistakes. Man-of-the-match Kyle Steyn intercepted one of his passes to score. A few minutes later the peerless scrum-half threw a forward pass behind his own tryline. It was that sort of game.

France, to their credit, rallied towards the end. They scored three late tries and secured a bonus point which could yet be crucial in the final analysis.

The two sides are now level on 16 points at the top of the table ahead of Super Saturday but France’s points differential is far better. Nevertheless, it’s all to play for in Dublin and Paris in what is an astonishing turnaround for Townsend and Scotland after their miserable defeat by Italy in round one.

The head coach had been bashed and buffeted after the loss in Rome, derided even in some quarters. His team responded with a thorough vanquishing of England and then ground out a comeback win over Wales in Cardiff.

On Saturday in Edinburgh they played with courage and elan to defeat the reigning champions and title favourites to ensure that Scotland go into the final weekend of the championship with a chance of glory. That has not happened for 27 years.

Townsend's side play Ireland away next Saturday while France will host England. It’s all to play after a stunning victory.

Incredible rugby at Murrayfield

Scotland scored three tries in the first half to lead 19-14, with Darcy Graham, Steyn and Pierre Schoeman all scoring. But it was in the third quarter that the home side really came alive. Ben White secured the bonus point with Scotland’s fourth try after 46 minutes, then came Steyn’s second after the Dupont mistake. Graham got his own second to give the Scots a 40-14 lead going into the final 20 minutes and sub Tom Jordan crashed over for the seventh try three minutes later. It was incredible. France were simply outplayed.

Sione Tuipulotu had spoken pre-match about the need for a fast start and his team duly delivered. There were only five minutes on the clock when Graham scored, breaking the Scotland try-record in the process. It came after the home side won a scrum, awarded when Thomas Ramos dropped a high ball in the bright Edinburgh sunshine. A couple of phases later Tuipulotu played a no-look pass to Russell who fumbled - backwards - then recovered to find Graham who powered through. It was his 36th try for Scotland, moving him one clear of Duhan van der Merwe on the all-time list. Russell converted

Two French tries in four minutes turned the game back in their favour and Louis Bielle-Biarrey was involved in both.

Matthieu Jalibert was prodding and probing for France but his grubber for Theo Attissogbe bounced too high for the winger who knocked on. Scotland tried to run the subsequent scrum from their own line but Tuipulotu was stripped of possession by Dupont who has rhino-like strength as well as sublime skills. France shipped the ball left and Bielle-Biarrey had acres of space to run in the try - his 25th in 25 Test matches.

The second French try quickly followed. France broke down the left wing through Ramos who fed Bielle-Biarrey. The grubber was perfect this time for Attissogbe who was too fast for the Scotland defenders. Ramos landed the conversion - just as he had with the first try - to make it 14-7 for the visitors.

It was compelling stuff, just as we’d hoped it would be. Both sides were wholly committed to attack and two Scotland tries before half-time wrestled momentum back for Townsend’s team.

There were 26 minutes on the clock when Steyn executed a brilliant Scotland move from a lineout. Gregor Brown won the ball, Matt Fagerson fed George Turner who slipped a pass perfectly to Steyn to score. Russell couldn't make the conversion from wide on the left but Scotland scored their third try of the match six minutes later.

The stand-off was inches from going over himself but Gardner said he had been stopped short. Scotland kept pressing with the pick and goes and had penalty advantage when Schoeman crashed over. Russell nailed the extras to make it 19-14 to the home side.

There was an added bonus for Scotland because Jalibert was sent to the sin bin after France had been warned about multiple infringements. On the down side, they lost Brown to injury. Grant Gilchrist replaced him in the second row and there was another Scotland change just before half-time when Zander Fagerson took over from D’arcy Rae in the front row. The Edinburgh tighthead had had a solid first half.

Scotland, excellent in the opening 40 minutes, were even better after the interval. Fagerson’s impact was immediate and when the tighthead carried hard towards the French line, White spotted a gap and darted over for the bonus-point try.

The fifth came soon after as Steyn intercepted Dupont’s slack pass and had too much pace for the French defence. It was the winger’s second try and Graham also helped himself to a double, wiggling his way through after a clever one-handed offload from the impressive Blair Kinghorn. Lenni Nouchi, the France replacement, was sent to the bin in the aftermath for an earlier infringement.

Murrayfield was rocking and the tries kept coming. Jordan ran a brilliant line to take Tuipulotu’s pass and score under the posts. Russell’s conversion - his sixth - made it 47-14 and we were poring over the record books at that point.

France recovered their poise. Dupont and Ramos scored tries in quick succession to cut the lead to 47-26 before Russell brought up the 50-point mark for the hosts with a penalty. France kept going and Oscar Jegou and then Ramos again scored late, late tries to bring the curtain down on an astonishing match. Josh Bayliss was yellow-carded for an offence leading up to the Jegou score but it couldn’t take the shine off things for Scotland who now have a serious chance to win the championship for the first time since 1999. Dublin, are you ready?

Scorers: Scotland: Tries: Graham 2, Steyn 2, Schoeman, White, Jordan. Cons: Russell 6. Pen: Russell.

France: Tries: Bielle-Biarrey, Attissogbe, Dupont, Jegou, Ramos 2. Cons: Ramos 5.

Yellow cards: Jalibert (Fra, 32min), Nouchi (Fra, 59min); Bayliss (Sco, 78min).

Scotland: B Kinghorn; D Graham, H Jones (T Jordan 56), S Tuipulotu, K Steyn (F Douglas 66); F Russell, B White (G Horne 64); P Schoeman (R Sutherland 64), G Turner (E Ashman 52), D Rae (Z Fagerson 39), G Brown (G Gilchrist 32), S Cummings (J Bayliss 52), M Fagerson, R Darge, J Dempsey.

France: T Ramos; T Attissogbe, N Depoortere (P-L Barassi 48), Y Moefana, L Bielle-Biarrey; M Jalibert, A Dupont (B Serin 69); J-B Gros (R Neti 52), J Marchand (16 Peato Mauvaka 46), D Aldegheri (D Bamba), C Ollivon (T Flament 46), M Guillard (E Meafou 46), F Cros, O Jegou, A Jelonch (L Nouchi 42).

Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)