Scotland try-scorer Dougie Fife has admitted he made a silly mistake in giving France an easy chance to stretch their lead in yesterday's RBS 6 Nations Championship clash in Paris.

Fife was the hero of the travelling supporters when he crossed for the game's only try just before half time. However, he became the villain eight minutes into the second period when he petulantly threw the ball into the crowd after running into touch.

"It was stupid, very stupid from me," said Fife of the incident which led to France fly-half Camille Lopez landing the fourth of the five penalties he kicked in his side's 15-8 win. "It was a bit hotheaded and it's something I will learn from."

However, after a defiant performance in which France's victory was only secured by Lopez's final kick, two minutes from the end, the overriding mood in the Scotland camp were of frustration that they did not win and confidence that they can do better against Wales in Edinburgh next Sunday.

"I think we were pretty close to winning," said Scotland coach Vern Cotter. "We created a lot of opportunities. We could even have come away with a draw.

"The guys kept believing. We made numerous line breaks and that's very encouraging. They played with big hearts and I thought we defended well. Our line-out and scrum stood up in a very physical game. Guys were rolling the sleeves up and getting stuck in.

"It's obvious to me when they came off that they were very frustrated and disappointed. That's a good emotion to have moving forward. We want to do better and there will be determination in the group to improve.

"There were some very good things in that game. There are positive things and it is about developing those and moving forward."

Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw backed up his coach's sentiments, but added that indiscipline was costly and that the team will be looking to identify areas for improvement ahead of the Wales game.

"We are extremely frustrated," said the scrum-half. "I felt we played a lot of really good rugby, did a lot of good things, but we let France off the hook at times.

"We were on the wrong side of the penalty count as well and that is frustrating. It is a tough enough place to come and we don't need the penalty count against us as well.

"On the performance as a whole, I thought we stood up defensively. We were under pressure at times. We have to use this emotion for next week. We will be playing at home and we need the crowd behind us.

"We just want to get back to Murrayfield and kick on. This is just the start for this team. We need to look at what we did well and just tighten up some of the things where we slipped up."

Alex Dunbar, the centre who went off with a shoulder injury, will be examined by team medical staff when he returns to Scotland. "We just have our fingers crossed that it is not too bad," said Cotter.