IRELAND WERE CHEERING as Scotland opened up against France and scored a stunning flurry of six tries in 36 minutes.

But Andy Farrell and his squad must equally have been thinking about how challenging an afternoon they have ahead of them this weekend in Dublin. 

The Scots will be arriving with their tails up, intent on picking up where they left off in attack against the French.

Gregor Townsend’s men took an early lead through Darcy Graham’s try but when France responded to move 14-7 ahead entering the second quarter, it looked as though pre-game forecasts of les Bleus being too good might come to pass.

That’s what made the sizzling sequence of scoring from the Scots that followed even more impressive. Kyle Steyn dotted down, then tries from Pierre Schoeman, Ben White, Steyn again, Graham again, and Tom Jordan followed without response from the French. 

This 40-0 blitz over the course of 36 minutes and 32 seconds from the Scots goes down as the sixth quickest six-try scoring streak in Six Nations history, according to Opta’s data.

The level of ruthlessness that Scotland found against the French – 5.6 points per 22 entry – might not be sustainable, but their thrilling flurry of tries last weekend underlines the variety of threats Ireland must deal with on Saturday.

Steyn’s first score was a beautifully executed play from a 10-metre lineout.

It’s a maul break play, meaning that Scotland set up a dummy maul as a means of tying in the French forwards before they break off it.

Blindside flanker Matt Fagerson accepts the transfer from lineout jumper Gregor Brown and immediately spins to pop the ball to hooker George Turner, who works infield after his lineout throw.

The Scottish forwards in the maul don’t actually push here. In fact, they let France shove them backwards once the ball is clear because Scotland want the space behind the lineout to be clear.

That means the maul starts here…

… but ends up five metres downfield and closer to the touchline.

In the meantime, Turner runs almost horizontally across the pitch.

The plan here is for Turner [red below] to lure France’s defensive lineout receiver, Anthony Jelonch [blue], infield and away from the maul.

And Jelonch does exactly that, tracking Turner infield as he vacates the space alongside the maul.

We must note that France hooker Julien Marchand [yellow below], having initially defended in the five-metre channel, is tasked with folding behind the maul into the space on the other side to cover any late runners there.

We can see that Marchand is already beginning to make that move in the shot above.

But the particularly challenging part for France is where Steyn comes from. He is not tucked behind the lineout or on the near 15-metre line, which might be a cue for him to run a line to take an inside pass from Turner. 

Steyn [pink above] is out in the Scottish midfield and the sense is they might use him as part of an attack out to the right.

Scotland further sell that to the French defence by having scrum-half White [red below] run out the back of number eight Jack Dempsey [blue], who runs a hard, short line off Turner.

All of this helps to disguise Steyn’s sudden acceleration to the inside of Dempsey on a line that will take him back inside Turner as the hooker arcs away from the maul.

France don’t pick up Steyn’s run until it’s too late.

As highlighted below, both Marchand [yellow] and scrum-half Antoine Dupont [green], who has started on the French tryline behind their lineout, have already overchased by the time Steyn hits full speed and takes the pass from Turner.

Steyn does a clinical job of taking the score as he fluidly side-steps to the left of Marchand, transfers the ball into his left hand in case he needs to fend Dupont, and surges past the scrum-half.

Not only is this a cracking try but it’s the kind of score that floods a team with self-belief.

They’ve picked out a possible French weakness, practiced a play they think will exploit it, and then executed it perfectly with the pressure on.

The Scots don’t really look back from there.

Their next score stems from a stolen lineout inside their own half, from where they strike with characteristic ambition in transition. Scotland are excellent at counter-attacking thanks to their speed and passing skills.

White, Turner, out-half Finn Russell, and outside centre Huw Jones smoothly swing the ball wide to fullback Blair Kinghorn.

And Kinghorn thunders all the way up to the French 10-metre line.

Having been planning for a lineout attack only seconds earlier, the French are now scrambling 20 metres back downfield and their discipline slips, allowing the Scots to kick a penalty down into the 22 as they reject the chance to slot three handy points.

Ireland will need to limit the Scots’ chances in transition, as well as reacting to turnovers and kick contest losses with speed and discipline.

Scotland very nearly score on first phase after kicking to touch, using their classic 9-12 play to do damage.

Scotland’s number nine, White, hits number 12 Sione Tuipulotu [red below], who has Jones [blue] running short as Russell [pink] bounces out the back.

Tuipulotu can carry the ball himself, pass short to Jones, or go out the back to Russell.

There isn’t a team in rugby that doesn’t run this kind of shape, but Scotland are particularly good at it because Tuipulotu is extremely difficult to read, Jones is one of the best line-runners in the game, and Russell is an expert at ghosting onto the ball late.

In this instance, Russell also has blindside wing Graham [yellow below] swinging out the back with him.

So there’s a lot for the French midfield to consider.

Yoram Moefana [red below] has to close up on Tuipulotu for fear of his run threat. Meanwhile, Matthieu Jalibert [pink] is accelerating forward to cover the back-door option of Russell.

But Nicolas Depoortère [blue above] ends up sitting back from Moefana and Jalibert. 

Depoortère is obviously concerned about Jones’ running line, but he’s also keen to give himself a chance to push out past Jones if Tuipulotu goes to Russell.

With Tuipulotu passing to Jones at the front door at a late stage, the combined effect is that Jones is able to dominate the collision with Depoortère, meaning he can offload cleanly to Russell in support.

Russell is only stopped from scoring by a brilliant effort from Jalibert, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, and Théo Attissogbe, but Scotland are playing on top of them and soon earn penalty advantage before Schoeman picks, dummies, and finishes powerfully.

Jalibert is yellow-carded here too and though France get through that sin-bin period without conceding again, they are broken by White immediately after being restored to 15 men in the second half.

Again, Scotland have penalty advantage for this score.

They’re playing from left to right from a lineout in the French 22 as White [red below] approaches the breakdown, scanning as he moves.

White is aware of Moefana [blue above] on the ground after his involvement in this tackle, giving the Scottish scrum-half an early cue for a possible snipe.

Moefana will be in an offside position and have to retreat into the defensive line, which can sometimes help scrum-halves to dart through.

Next, White notes that France back row Lenni Nouchi [yellow below] has begun to fold to the far side of the breakdown.

This is definitely a big cue for White to snipe to his left, given that it’s a little unusual for Nouchi – three defenders away from the tackle – to fold so far across.

In the next split second, White glances further to his left and notices that France lock Mickaël Guillard [green below] is only just back on his feet from the previous tackle.

Guillard is slow to get back into the French defensive line and the space that is opening up on his inside shoulder as Nouchi begins to fold is clear.

White does not need a second invitation.

With Zander Fagerson having made an excellent carry beyond Moefana, White scoops the ball up and snipes left, darting past Moefana, who has his back turned.

Guillard reacts late and he can’t prevent White from finishing.

As White celebrates, we can see Nouchi throwing his hands out to the defenders on his outside.

Nouchi is presumably questioning why there was a call for him to fold, or why there wasn’t a call telling him to hold.

Whatever the miscommunication and misunderstanding, it’s a big defensive error from the French that allows White to show another one of the Scottish threats.

There’s now a whiff of desperation from the French.

And that manifests in the great Dupont forcing things in attack, getting picked off by Steyn in the process.

The pass never fully looks on here but Dupont goes for an ambitious one to wing Attissogbe despite the close presence of White.

The Scottish scrum-half makes contact with Dupont’s left arm just as he releases the ball, taking the power out of Dupont’s pass.

The ball sits up perfectly for Steyn, who accelerates and pulls clear of Moefana.

This is the moment when White turns back and looks for Dupont, celebrating in his face as Steyn streaks clear.

The French were in freefall as the Scots continued to hammer home their dominance.

Their next score stems from more quality in transition, with France leaving themselves numbers down in the shortside.

Scotland have created an overload of four attackers against three defenders and they exploit it beautifully.

First receiver Tom Jordan [blue below] runs square at the line and dummies a pass inside to Kinghorn, which causes François Cros to hold briefly on Kinghorn [red].

That, in turn, means replacement centre Pierre-Louis Barassi [blue] is worried that Cros won’t get to Jordan, so he sits down on the Scottish playmaker.

Meanwhile, Attissogbe is already drifting out towards Tuipulotu close to the touchline, hoping that Barassi will get to Steyn.

That all means Jordan can slip Steyn through the line after he does an excellent job of tying in both Cros and Barassi.

Scotland are in behind once again and Steyn offloads to the supporting Fagerson.

France are left scrambling and their discipline slips again.

Into the corner go the Scots, from where their maul earns them yet another penalty advantage. That gives the backs even more license to try something. And it’s Kinghorn and Graham who come up with the goods.

Kinghorn carries one-handed off a wide White pass and despite being tackled, he flicks the ball up to Graham. The Scottish wing slips clear of Barassi and with Moefana worried about an inside pass to Tuipulotu, Graham accelerates over to score.

Scotland’s kicking game, which was an important part of their win last weekend, was key to the sixth and final try of this remarkable frenzy.

First, Steyn competes on an exit box kick and wins a penalty from Attissogbe, who plays the ball while off his feet after the contest. And from the ensuing lineout, Russell rolls a clever kick behind the French.

Scotland recognised that right wing Attissogbe [red below] is in the frontline defence.

That means there’s no one in the right-hand side of the French backfield, with Dupont [blue below] being asked to double-job after starting in the five-metre channel close to the lineout.

So Russell sends a kick deep behind Dupont, leaving him chasing back.

The frazzled Dupont carries back over his own tryline as he collects the ball, then looks up to see an energetic Scottish chase line.

Rather than trying to get a kick away or run out, Dupont ends up throwing a wild forward pass to Bielle-Biarrey.

That means a five-metre scrum for Scotland and they score on first phase.

The Scots give themselves an option of attacking to the left as Russell [red below] and Kinghorn [blue] stack in behind the scrum.

With Steyn out of shot wide on the left and White a threat on that left-hand side from scrum-half too, France have to start with Dupont, Jalbibert and Attissogbe [yellow] over on that side.

But Scotland’s intention is to go to their right and that familiar 9-12 play that they have shredded so many teams with.

Tuipulotu [green above] will be the fulcrum again, with Jordan [pink] now at outside centre to run short off the number 12, while Russell [red] will swing out the back of the midfielders. Kinghorn will also swing to the right along with Russell.

Scotland execute to lethal effect.

Tuipulotu does a superb job here after a slick pass from White, who scoops the ball from the far side of the scrum and fizzes the ball across it. That leaves Dupont chasing to catch up from the far side.

Tuipulotu initially eyeballs Moefana’s inside shoulder, ensuring the France centre [green below] has to sit down on his opposite number.

We can see at this moment that Russell is still on the inside of Tuipulotu but he’s swinging behind him, which Barassi is well aware of.

So not only does Barassi [pink below] have to be worried about Jordan’s running line off Tuipulotu, he is also concerned about Russell out the back.

One defender out, Bielle-Biarrey [blue below] is concerned about Kinghorn swinging wider, so he is not biting in.

All of this essentially leaves Barassi outnumbered and he has to make a decision whether to stick on Jordan or take Russell out the back.

His life is made much more difficult by Tuipulotu’s deception.

As we can see below, the Scotland 12 turns his head and shapes to pass out the back.

Tuipulotu is not looking at Jordan. His body suggests it’ll be a pass out the back to Russell.

This no-look front-door pass is one of Tuipulotu’s traits but it doesn’t make it any easier to read when play is unfolding at high speed right in front of you.

In this instance, Barassi reads off Jordan out the back. Tuipulotu pulls the trigger at the front door and Jordan scores, riding the hit from Dupont very well to finish.

47-14 up after a blitz of six tries, Scotland are in dreamland.

The manner in which they went on to concede four more tries to the French, who grabbed a bonus point, could prove costly. And Ireland will take some encouragement from those concessions.

But the period in which Scotland’s varied, clinical attack tore France to shreds has put Andy Farrell’s men on notice of how good they will need to be defensively on Super Saturday.