Captain Greig Laidlaw stressed the importance of strong start when he met the media yesterday.

"We will show a true account of ourselves," said Laidlaw, who plays his club rugby in France with Clermont. "The last game game is gone, we'll never get that game back so you can look back all you like but you're not going to get much from it now.

"We've got to look forward and the first 10 minutes of the game is where we're going to have to set our stall out. We're back here at Murrayfield in front of another sell-out and the boys are highly motivated to pull on the jersey, as am I."

Brace yourself for some troubling numbers...

Scotland have gone five Tests without a victory.

In those five outings, the opposition have run in 19 tries.

It took France around two minutes to break through last weekend, scoring with their first attacking thrust and shipping early tries is a nasty habit Scotland must break before they get to the World Cup.

Richie Gray
Former Scotland breakdown coach on BBC Radio Scotland

Experienced scrum-half Greig Laidlaw returns to the side and takes over the captaincy from Stuart McInally, while John Barclay, on the bench this afternoon, also has a strong claim to lead the side in Japan.

McInally is a nailed on starter in Scotland's strongest XV and Barclay almost has first dibs on the number six shirt but Laidlaw faces stiff competition from Ali Price.

Both number nines will probably get equal game time in the World Cup group stage but who will start in the key games against Ireland and Japan and who gets the best out of star stand-off Finn Russell?

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Fortress Murrayfield? Not quite. Scotland are looking to make it a hat-trick of home wins against France following Six Nations successes in 2016 and 2018.

However, the Scots have lost three of their last four games in Edinburgh, with Wales and Ireland taking maximum points during February and March.

Can Scotland follow the recent examples set by New Zealand and Wales, who were tonked away to Australia and England respectively, only to gain revenge on home soil the following week?

Peter Wright
Former Scotland prop on BBC Radio Scotland

Talking of big men who can shift with the ball, this is an important day for Scott Cummings.

Making his first international start after his debut from the bench last Saturday, the 22-year-old Glasgow Warriors lock could maybe beat Edinburgh's Ben Toolis to a seat on the plane to Japan if he catches the eye.

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Scotland fans will get a first look at big Blade Thomson this afternoon, with the Scarlets man making his long awaited debut.

Born and raised in New Zealand, he qualifies through his paternal grandfather, who hailed from Wishaw.

Thomson made a big impression at the start of his first season in the Pro14 but a major concussion ruled him out of the autumn internationals and Six Nations.

He didn't return for the Scarlets until late April but Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has stuck with the 28-year-old, who operates at number eight today and can also do a job at blindside flanker and lock.

Scotland are crying out for a serious ball-carrier and Thomson, who played for the Maori All Blacks, could well be the answer.

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Paul Gabrillagues was given a six-week suspension - reduced from a 10-week entry point - for clearing out Scotland's John Barclay with a horrible head-first challenge, a ban that would almost certainly see him miss out on World Cup selection since he would miss the first three group games.

However, there is still a glimmer of hope for the Stade Francais lock, with vice-president Serge Simon saying French Rugby plan to appeal against the penalty.

By the way, a groggy Barclay very politely asked Nigel Owens to take a look at the incident last week but the Welsh referee declined to go down the TMO route.

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Gregor Townsend says his selection is no knee-jerk reaction to last week's mauling and that he had initially planned to change the entire starting XV.

However, he was persuaded to keep Stuart Hogg in the side because the full-back feels he needs more game time after coming off early with cramp in Nice.

"The plan over the first two weeks was to play the majority of the squad and put two teams out that we believed were strong enough to play Test matches," Townsend said. "Obviously, that wasn't the case last week, and now it is up to this group of players to rectify that.

"I think it was actually going to be 15 changes at one stage but, seeing as Stuart Hogg left the field early, we decided that he could do with another game. He was looking pretty sharp before he came off and he was very keen to play."

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After an impressive showing on home soil, France make just four changes, with captain Guilhem Guirado back at hooker, Felix Lambey replacing suspended lock Paul Gabrillagues, Arthur Iturria at six and Thomas Ramos at full-back.

France: Ramos, Penaud, Fickou, Fofana, Raka, Lopez, Dupont; Poirot, Guirado (capt), Slimani, Lambey, Vahaamahina, Iturria, Alldritt, Ollivon.

Replacements: Chat, Baille, Setiano, Taofifenua, Camara, Serin, Ntamack, Medard

Following that sobering 32-3 defeat in the south of France, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend makes 14 changes as he further assesses his squad.

Full-back Stuart Hogg is the only man left standing from last weekend's starting line up.

Scotland: Hogg, Seymour, Harris, P Horne, Maitland, Russell, Laidlaw (capt); Reid, Turner, Nel, Cummings, Skinner, Wilson, Watson, Thomson.

Replacements: Stewart, Dell, Berghan, Gilchrist, Barclay, G Horne, Hutchinson, Kinghorn.

As the World Cup rolls ever nearer, Scotland are at Murrayfield for the second of four warm-up Tests and it's fair to say they have some work to do.

France are in Edinburgh on the back of a five-try demolition of Gregor Townsend's men in Nice last weekend.

The meek manner of defeat and slipshod defence were very worrying, so today is all about restoring some order in terms of a game plan and lifting confidence with a much-improved display in front of a home crowd.

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