Scotland will be looking to disrupt France’s bid to claim the Six Nations on Saturday with co-captain Finn Russell admitting it felt odd to have rivals England and Ireland rooting for their success.
Scotland take on the table-toppers at the Stade de France on Saturday and a rare away win in Paris could open the door for either England or Ireland to secure tournament success, depending on their results against Wales and Italy respectively earlier in the day.
“It’s always a massive challenge coming here to Stade de France and trying to beat France, who have the title on the line and everything to play for,” Russell told reporters after the traditional captain’s run on Friday when he led training.
“Hopefully, we can disrupt it ... We’ve just got to prepare as best we can and then see what happens.
“I’d imagine tomorrow we’ll get a few messages from the English boys, maybe the Irish boys, so I suppose it’s good fun. It shows how exciting a tournament it is that three teams can win at the end.”
Scotland denied France the title four years ago in similar circumstances with an upset away win.
"It's been spoken about," Russell added. "But I think four years is a long time ago, so it'll be very different tomorrow night. I think the French team has come on a lot from there and I think we have as well.”
Scotland have only the slightest mathematical chance themselves to win the tournament with their a narrow 16-15 loss away to England last month effectively ending their chances.
“If we get a win tomorrow, then we’d probably look back at one of my kicks that could have had us winning the title,” said Russell, who missed three conversions at Twickenham that could have won Scotland the match and had them in contention on Saturday.
“I think the England game is probably the one that got away, which for me personally is really frustrating. I think we all know why. But if we can finish up with a win this weekend – the frustration for the England game would still be there, obviously – but I think we could look back at this tournament as a decent enough tournament.
“There’s probably a few folk questioning how the Scotland team is going, but if I hit that kick or one of the kicks, then it’s probably viewed very differently. At this level, it’s all about the results. But once you get to the end of the tournament, then you can fully assess how it’s been and how you’ve played,” Russell added.