Scots were 'robbed' says Matt Williams

'Terrible, terrible decisions cost us the game'

Scotland coach Matt Williams hailed his side's spirited performance against France in Paris on Saturday, but said his team was 'robbed blind' by the refereeing.

The Scots were on course for a surprise 9-9 draw in Paris before a late Damien Traille try helped the French earn a 16-9 win.

But, when Traille scored, Scotland were down to 14 men after Jon Petrie had been sin-binned for an offside offence.

Moments earlier Allister Hogg had been adjudged to have gone into touch and a try was disallowed.

"We have said all week that we wanted a performance which would make the whole nation proud," Williams told BBC Sport.

"There has been a lot of bad things in Scottish rugby recently and the only guys who could really show leadership were the players.

"I'm incredibly proud of them and the way they performed. They were fantastic.

"I am outraged at the fact we lost that game and I'm outraged at the decisions which were made.

"I really don't want to dwell on it because I don't want to overshadow the courageousness of the way the team played.

"But they didn't deserve to be robbed blind like that. Jon Petrie was sin-binned but was nowhere near the ball.

"Ally Hogg was called out and he wasn't out. Chris Cusiter was under the posts in the first half and brought back for a tight-head bind when the ball was clearly out of the scrum.

"That game was won by Scotland and it was terrible, terrible decisions which cost us the game.

"That will, unfortunately, always stand but the performance by the players back in the homes of Scotland - I hope - will make people proud."

Williams admitted that Scotland's heroic was the result of "stewing" over the last international when South Africa romped to a 45-10 at Murrayfield in November.

"We had a reasonably good autumn - we just had a bad day against South Africa. We were horrid," he said.

"It has been stewing and sitting with us ever since. We just didn't want to feel like that again.

"I don't feel much better thinking about it but the performance was tremendous.

"When you see a display like that, I don't have to say anything. It was a loss which even the fairest supporter would say was pretty lucky for France."