Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend admits his side will have to be at their best to get a result against France today.

He tells BBC Scotland: “Seeing how well they can play from the last few games, they’re a brilliant side and we will have to be very good to win today.

"This team always plays with real energy at home – we weren’t able to show that against England, largely because of the weather and errors that were made, but if we bring that same energy and show that we’ve learned from the last three games I think we’ll see a very good performance today.

"We’re not going to be playing here for eight or nine months. It’s important to try and get the win – but whatever the result we know it’ll be a very busy last week of the tournament.”

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I think I'd rather jump into a shark tank with an open wound or light a cigarette in a petrol station than mess with Shaun Edwards.

After a phenomenal career in rugby league, the snarling Wigan native has forged a reputation as one of the premier defence specialists in union.

He was Warren Gatland's long-time lieutenant with Wasps, Wales and the Lions, and now Fabien Galthie, who has admired his systems for years, has him marshaling the French defence.

Apparently Galthie modeled much of his defensive work at club level on what Edwards was doing with Wales. The French blitz is a ferocious and relentless operation and Scotland will do very well to cleave it open.

Image source, Getty Images

Right, that's enough stats for now....

France lock Bernard le Roux has made 62 tackles so far, seven more than any other player in this Six Nations. He’s also made 12 dominant tackles, which ranks second only behind England’s Maro Itoje.

Any excuse to dig out this clip again...

Twenty-five years ago, fefore Sonny Bill Williams was a thing and glittering off-loads became commonplace, Gregor Townsend conjured a piece of wizardry in the Parc des Princes to earn Scotland a first win in France for nearly three decades.

The current head coach flipped one out the back door to the rampaging Gavin Hastings who, in the words of the great Bill McLaren, "puffed away" and scudded between the posts for the winning try.

Enjoy...

You'll hear a lot of folk touting the popular myth that France number eight Gregor Alldritt is eligible to play for Scotland. He isn't, even though his father spent his formative years in the country and his brother plays club rugby in Edinburgh.

Thoughts on Scotland's change strip this afternoon? Aye or naw?

Hit thumbs-up if you think it's tidy, thumbs-down if it's boke-inducing...

This is what our esteemed chief sports writer Tom English has to say about Fabien Galthie's selection policy: "In four games, including Sunday, France have made just one change to the starting pack. One. And it was an injury that caused it. For Murrayfield, Jefferson Poirot comes in for Cyril Baille at loose-head - and that's it. The same hooker and tight-head four games running, the same second-row and back-row, too. The selectorial axe has been replaced by a tickle stick."

This is how Europe's form team line up in Edinburgh:

France: Bouthier; Penaud, Vakatawa, Arthur Vincent, Gael Fickou; Ntamack, Dupont; Poirot, Marchand, Haouas, Le Roux, Willemse, Cros, Ollivon (capt), Alldritt.

Replacements: Chat, Gros, Bamba, Taofifenua, Cretin, Serin, Jalibert, Ramos.

There's a phrase among the more "woke" Scottish rugby followers that encapsulates Gregor Townsend's often left-field selection policy - "The Toonie Tombola".

Attempting to second-guess the coach in his Glasgow days and now with the national team is a fool's errand.

This week there are three changes to the side that beat Italy - all of them up front. Nick Haining started against Ireland, was benched against England and left out in Rome. He's back starting again. So too are hooker Fraser Brown and lock Grant Gilchrist, the former hitting 50 caps and the latter earning his first start of the championship.

Stuart McInally, Ben Toolis and Magnus Bradbury drop out. Fit-again Sam Skinner is back in the match-day squad, Duncan Weir could win his first cap in almost three years, and Kyle Steyn is poised for his Test debut.

Scotland: Hogg (capt); Maitland, Harris, Johnson, Kinghorn; Hastings, Price; Sutherland, Brown, Z Fagerson; Cummings; Gilchrist, Ritchie, Watson, Haining.

Replacements: McInally, Dell, Nel, Skinner, Bradbury, G Horne, Weir, Steyn.

As well as delivering some impressive first international outings this Six Nations, Nick Haining also provided an inadvertent but poignant lesson to all journalists in not placing too much faith in Wikipedia.

Unbeknownst to the Edinburgh number eight, a well-known Scottish rugby podcast had - for comic effect - made some outlandish alterations to his Wikipedia page. It claimed Australia-born Haining had been a ballet star as a kid and that his sister was a personal trainer to such celebrities as David Beckham - copy that would later appear in a national newspaper.

Always check your sources...

Image source, SNS

It's been a long old wait for a cap for Duncan Weir, who hasn't donned the thistle in almost three years.

The squat little fly-half has been flourishing at Worcester Warriors these past couple of seasons, and is poised for a first Test appearance under Gregor Townsend should he be introduced from the bench.

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It's a special day for Scotland hooker Fraser Brown, who wins his 50th cap this afternoon.

The Glasgow man is one of the most aggressive and intelligent customers around, and generally the most fascinating player with whom to talk rugby. He's got some intellect and an awful lot to like about the way he goes about his business on the paddock.

Brown has overcome a great deal to get here - a serious neck injury and a long battle with depression could not thwart him.

Here's AFP reporter Illtud Dafydd filming the hooker leading his troops into the stadium.

I'm really not sure which is more shocking - the fact that Murrayfield is bathed in sunshine, or Peter Wright successfully figuring out how to use the camera on his phone.

The former Scotland and Lions prop will be furnishing us with his inimitable punditry across BBC radio in due course.

Former Scotland number eight Johnnie Beattie worked under Galthie for two years at Montpellier between 2012 and 2014.

Beattie describes playing for Galthie as "survival of the fittest", a ruthless habitat where plenty cracked when the abuse and the savaging grew too much to bear, but also rates him as the best technical coach he's ever encountered.

"Our prop, Yvan Watremez, came in one morning with stomach pains from fear," Beattie told BBC Scotland.

"Some people crumbled and didn't stay very long - a few capped internationals came and went within two or three months. A lot of people had their confidence destroyed, needed to get out, or were bullied.

"He was a real Jekyll and Hyde of coaching in that he was absolutely wonderful in technical stuff but also very capable of burning personal relationships and burning a club environment. I struggled to stomach how he was with other people."

Image source, Getty Images

With those outrageous specs, Fabien Galthie looks like he's just hopped out of the cockpit of a WWII biplane.

The France coach, who succeeded Jacques Brunel after the World Cup, is two games away from piloting Les Bleus to a first grand slam in 10 years.

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Remember that tedious old cliche about "which France is going to turn up"? The one that told of how brilliant the French could be one day and how utterly hopeless they might become the next?

Well, that dull line has been redundant for an age. France, almost without fail, have been rotten, weak-willed, and hindered by apparent mutinies in the camp.

Until now. Fabien Galthie and his top new team of coaches have them flying, relentless and diligent in their pursuit of glory.

After England, Italy and Wales were vanquished, it's the turn of inconsistent Scotland to attempt to derail their bid for a first grand slam since 2010.

Can Gregor Townsend's men pull off a seismic shock? We'll find out very shortly. Stick with these pages for the updates, TV and radio coverage, stats, punditry and my dreadful attempts at humour.

Here we go...

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