John Barclay
Former Scotland captain on BBC One

I never played with or against a player like Finn Russell.

I think he will go down as one of the best, if not the best, Scottish players of all time.

The players are out at a packed Murrayfield.

Will it be another title for France or will Scotland upset the odds? We'll soon find out.

Keys. Wallet. Cockerel outfit.

Check, check, check.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend tells BBC Scotland: "I was actually just chatting to one of the coaches at lunchtime saying how lucky have we been over the years? We play in the winter, but so many games are like this it's dry.

"I think it'll be a great game for supporters and we know there's a lot of French here, two teams want to play positive open rugby, make the most of the opposition mistakes. So, probably a team that limits their errors is going to come out on top.

"Other experiences too [have made us steely], what happened in November has made us who we are, and I was really proud of the team in Rome, we did all we could to win that game

"The signs were there that we were together, we resilient, we finding solutions and we saw that in Cardiff and obviously the England game was a different game because we were ahead but that was positive to see that we not just held our lead but we grew in that second half as well.

"We have to make them uncomfortable, they've been getting, not away with things, but they've been able to play and get offloads away and we can't give them any chinks in our defence.

"We've got to make sure that we are switched on on both sides of the field because they can switch play pretty quickly.

"We can't give them any loose ball to attack off because they are the best in the world in those situations, but that's more thinking about our defense.

"Our attack has to really go at them and we did that last year over in Paris and we had a lot of opportunities against them and that was created through hard work and really good work in contact and getting some of our very good attackers on the ball and that's always our plan and we just have to deliver that today."

Image source, SNS

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland

Jack Dempsey being fit to start is huge for Scotland. He is their biggest, most effective ball carrier and his punch will be vital in taking the fight to the French.

Zander Fagerson dropping to the bench is a surprise, but not a shock. He has been well off his best so far in this Six Nations and the Scottish scrum has been a problem.

D'Arcy Rae performed well when called upon against the All Blacks in November and he'll need another big performance to help Scotland get parity at set-piece.

It'll be a big day too for Freddy Douglas. The Edinburgh back-row is set to make his Six Nations debut off the bench and Gregor Townsend will hope his exceptional skills at the breakdown can disrupt the French attack.

The bench impact will be crucial. Scotland fans might be best advised not to look at some of the weapons France will be calling upon, but Scotland have some good options to deploy too.

Ewan Ashman's carrying will be valuable in the closing stages, Zander Fagerson should have a point to prove having been demoted, while it will be fascinating to see what young Douglas can do in his specialist area at the breakdown.

The key for Scotland is to still be in the game when these guys enter the fray.

Tom English
BBC Scotland chief sports writer on Sportsound

Scotland at their highest level are a very, very formidable team. They've done it for a while against the All Blacks, they have a decent record against France.

France haven't had that kind of psychological hold over Scotland.

I don't think they will be intimidated by France but they'll have to get off to a flying start.

France captain Antoine Dupont has insisted that his side will be focused on Scotland's challenge, rather than the possibility of sealing back-to-back titles this afternoon.

The defending champions could wrap up an Six Nations triumph with a game to spare if they secure a bonus-point win.

Failure to get the result they need would still allow France to complete the job against England next weekend, and Dupont was clear the side will play the game and see where it takes them.

"It's important to win competitions when you're in a position to win them," he said.

"Obviously, for many reasons, it will be more than positive to win this tournament, but we still have two games to play and today we're far from it.

"The goal is to win the match. We know how difficult it is to win here. We don't need to talk about the quality of the Scottish team, especially since the beginning of this tournament.

"Our main focus is here for the moment. We will have time to see what happens next."

France, who have won every game with maximum points so far, will retain their crown with a round to spare if they can secure a bonus-point win at Murrayfield.

If France lose but pick up at least a point, or Scotland win without a bonus point, Fabien Galthie's side will remain in control given their superior points difference.

A Scotland bonus-point win and nothing for the visitors would leave Gregor Townsend's side in a position to win the title by claiming another maximum-point win in their final-round match against Ireland in Dublin.

After missing out on a bonus point against Italy, Ireland will probably need France to lose their final two games without securing a bonus point as well as securing their own bonus-point win over Scotland.

France, who are chasing what would be their first Grand Slam since 2022, host England in the final game of the tournament, while Italy travel to Cardiff to face Wales.

Tom English
BBC Scotland chief sports writer

France might have four changes for this game but they're reverting to the starting line-up that took Ireland to the cleaners on that opening Thursday night.

Theo Attisogbe is 21, Nicolas Depoortere is 23, Louis Bielle-Biarrey is 22 and Oscar Jegou is 22. Baby-faced assassins.

Bielle-Biarrey is out of of this world. He's scored in his past eight Six Nations games.

Imagine having such strength that you can leave Thibaud Flament, one of the world's best locks in my view, on the bench while leaving out Damian Penaud, Gregory Alldritt and Cameron Woki and many others altogether.

France are dripping with world class. What a test for Scotland. They must be relishing it. It doesn't get much bigger than this.

France have not trailed for a solitary second in any of their three games so far. To say they have a tendency to fly out of the traps is a bit of an understatement.

They've scored tries in minutes one, two, four, 10 and 15. Maybe they'll get spooked if they have to play catch-up, but none of Ireland, Wales or Italy have come anywhere close to finding out.

France have made four personnel changes to their line-up for Saturday's Six Nations match with Scotland at Murrayfield.

Thomas Ramos shifts from fly-half to full-back to replace Theo Attissogbe, who is moved to the wing with Gael Drean dropping out.

Matthieu Jalibert takes over from Ramos at fly-half while Yoram Moefana and Nicolas Depoortere form a new centre partnership in place of Fabien Brau-Boirie and Emilien Gailleton.

Lock Charles Ollivon coming in for Thibaud Flament is the only change in the pack.

Flament is the only one of the four players dropping out to make the bench.

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has made five changes to the side that scraped past Wales in Cardiff.

Darcy Graham and Jack Dempsey start, while Zander Fagerson does not make the XV in a Six Nations match for the first time since 2023.

Kyle Steyn moves from right to left wing to accommodate Graham with Duhan van der Merwe missing out. Graham and Van der Merwe share the Scotland record with 35 international tries.

Back-rower Dempsey, 31, was expected to miss the rest of the tournament after picking up a bicep injury in the Calcutta Cup win over England but returned to the squad following the victory away to Wales in round three.

He replaces Matt Fagerson at number eight, with Fagerson switching to blindside flanker.

Gregor Brown moves from six to the second row to partner Scott Cummings as Max Williamson makes way.

Pierre Schoeman, George Turner and D'Arcy Rae form a new front row as Nathan McBeth and Dave Cherry drop out altogether.

Freddy Douglas, who has one cap, is primed to make his first Six Nations appearance off the bench, with Ewan Ashman and Rory Sutherland joining the 20-year-old on the bench.

Scotland: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (capt), Kyle Steyn; Finn Russell, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, D'Arcy Rae, Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.

Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Freddy Douglas, Josh Bayliss, George Horne, Tom Jordan.

France: Thomas Ramos, Theo Attissogbe, Nicolas Depoortere, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Mattieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont; Jean-Baptiste Gros, Julien Marchand, Dorian Aldegheri, Charles Ollivon, Mickael Guillard, Francois Cros, Oscar Jegou, Anthony Jelonch.

Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Rodrigue Neti, Demba Bamba, Thibaud Flament, Emmanuel Meafou, Lenni Nouchi, Baptiste Serin, Pierre-Louis Barassi.

Lovely day for it.

Scotland host France in the Edinburgh sunshine with both teams still firmly in the mix for the Six Nations title.

Image source, SNS