Scotland have rung the changes after their disappointing start to the Six nations last weekend.
Much-faniced after a superb Autumn series which saw them defeat Samoa and Austrlaia, and narrowly losing to New Zealand, a 34-7 defeat was not what head coach Gregor Townsend had been hoping for.
Rather than waiting for problems to fix themselves, Townsend has taken action with the tournament still in its infancy.
Veteran scrum-half Greig Laidlaw replaces Ali Price at 9, to try and bring experience into one of the most pivotal positions on the field.
The scorer of Scotland’s only try in Cardiff – Peter Horne – comes into the centres at the expense of Chris Harris, and in the forward division Cornell du Preez, Ben Toolis and Jon Welsh all fall out the team for Ryan Wilson, Grant Gilchrist and Simon Berghan respectively.
There was one forced change, as winger Byron McGuigan is replaced by Sean Maitland due to injury.
Laidlaw has recently returned to the field after suffering a broken leg last year, and briefly featured from the bench on Saturday.
If Scotland want to have any chance in this year’s Six nations, victory against France at Murrayfield will be essential.
