France introduce seven changes ahead of Scotland this weekend
Philippe Saint-Andre has made seven changes to his team
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France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has made seven changes to his team for Saturday's RBS 6 Nations clash against Scotland at Murrayfield.
Scotland skipper Kelly Brown insists he is not fooled by France's RBS 6 Nations humbling against Wales a fortnight ago.
The French have already beaten England and Italy this year and Brown says Scotland will have to overcome quality opposition if they are to end an eight-year wait for a win over Les Bleus.
Brown told Press Association Sport: "The French will be an incredibly tough test. Yes, okay, they didn't play that well against Wales a fortnight ago but I also think that Wales were very strong that night.
"But in saying that, after the first two matches everybody was tipping France for the Championship, so they're an incredibly tough side and we know that we need to be at our best to challenge them on Saturday."
Brown also insists he never considered quitting international rugby after head coach Scott Johnson dumped him out of his squad.
But Brown has now been restored to both the starting XV and the captaincy for Saturday's fixture.
Asked if he considered retiring from national duty, he said: "No - it's as simple as that. Playing for Scotland is something I used to dream of as a child and it's a very, very special honour.
The starting XV features a new back-row unit following Les Bleus' 27-6 loss to Wales last time out, with Perpignan lock Sebastien Vahaamahina selected at blindside flanker, joining openside Alexandre Lapandry and number eight Damien Chouly.
Vahaamahina replaces the injured Yannick Nyanga, with Lapandry in for Wenceslas Lauret and Chouly taking over from Louis Picamoles, who was axed by Saint-Andre after he sarcastically applauded referee Alain Rolland following his sin-binning against Wales.
Elsewhere, Castres hooker Brice Mach fills the vacancy created by an injury to Dimitri Szarzewski, while three switches among the backs see Toulon centre Maxime Mermoz replace the injured Wesley Fofana, Toulouse wing Maxime Medard preferred to Hugo Bonneval and Racing Metro scrum-half Maxime Machenaud selected instead of Jean-Marc Doussain.
France, despite suffering a heaviest defeat against Wales since 1950, are still in the Six Nations title mix along with Wales, England and Ireland.
And they will head to Edinburgh on the back of seven successive victories over Scotland since they suffered a 20-16 reversal in 2006.
Team: B Dulin (Castres); Y Huget (Toulouse), M Bastareaud (Toulon), M Mermoz (Toulon), M Medard (Toulouse); J Plisson (Stade Francais), M Machenaud (Racing Metro); T Domingo (Clermont Auvergne), B Mach (Castres), N Mas (Montpellier), Y Maestri (Toulouse), P Pape (Stade Francais, capt), S Vahaamahina (Perpignan), A Lapandry (Clermont Auvergne), D Chouly (Clermont Auvergne).
Replacements: G Guirado (Perpignan), V Debaty (Clermont Auvergne), R Slimani (Stade Francais), A Flanquart (Stade Francais), A Claassen (Castres), J-M Doussain (Toulouse), R Tales (Castres), G Fickou (Toulouse).
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