The last thing France need in Saint Denis today, with their World Cup build-up imminent and defence of their Six Nations title the immediate priority, is a repeat attack of the Twickenham yips. Unfortunately they lost their fly-half David Skrela on Thursday with an ankle injury that is unlikely to settle Gallic nerves as they attempt to defend a wafer-thin points advantage of four over Ireland.

Skrela's replacement is the captain of France's under-21 World Cup winning side, Lionel Beauxis, but he did little to steady the ship as France's lack of composure got the better of them in the second half last Sunday against England. Worse still, the man who would step forward if Beauxis picks up an injury today is the converted centre Damien Traille, who was insipid against the All Blacks in November.

Given the Scots' obduracy last Saturday against Ireland and the way they managed to unsettle the French last year at Murrayfield, their captain, Chris Paterson, was right to claim yesterday that they can only benefit from Skrela's withdrawal due to the twisted ankle he sustained while taking a heavy early tackle at Twickenham.

"Losing Skrela is a big miss, he's transformed their game in the way he defends and the way he controls things," said Paterson. "He's a big, big player for them. I would say he has probably been the best back, and certainly the best No10, in the championship so far. If he was playing, it would probably have been slightly more difficult."

France expect Scotland to play the spoiling game that so nearly brought an unexpected victory against Ireland, in the knowledge that the Stade de France crowd have little patience with their side if they do not like what they see on the pitch.

"France are bound to be under more pressure than we are," said Paterson. "We can't win the championship, they can - and their fans think they should. They know they have to score points to win the championship, so that will put pressure on them - and their fans know that too, which will add even more pressure."

The France coach, Bernard Laporte, sounded a note of caution yesterday. "The Scots are not in the place [in the table] that they deserve. The results aren't in their favour but they nearly beat Ireland. They are always difficult to play."

The Scotland coach, Frank Hadden, has replaced a third of his side after the defeat by Ireland, with Rory Lawson starting at scrum-half and Ross Ford at hooker. Paterson moves to the wing to replace Hugo Southwell, injured against Ireland, while at centre Andrew Henderson returns for Marcus Di Rollo. Nikki Walker makes his first start on the wing for five years while Dave Callam is replaced at No8 by Johnnie Beattie.

France have a totally rejigged 8-9-10 axis, with Imanol Harinordoquy making his first start of the championship at the back of the scrum, while Pierre Mignoni returns to partner Beauxis, who has been a replacement in all four matches to date.

The recalled wing, Cedric Heymans, in for Christophe Dominici, expressed perfectly what is at stake for France today: "If we are not sufficiently motivated to win, we will never be and we cannot claim to have pretensions to win the World Cup."

The pressure, in other words, could hardly be greater.

Stade de France, today, 3.30pm Referee C Joubert (South Africa) TV BBC1

15 C Poitrenaud Toulouse

14 V Clerc Toulouse

13 D Marty Perpignan

12 Y Jauzion Toulouse

11 C Heymans Toulouse

10 L Beauxis St Français

9 P Mignoni Clermont

1 O Milloud Bourgoin

2 R Ibanez Wasps, capt

3 P de Villiers St Français

4 L Nallet Castres

5 J Thion Biarritz

6 S Betsen Biarritz

7 I Harinordoquy Biarritz

8 J Bonnaire Bourgoin

Replacements N Mas (Perpignan), S Bruno (Sale), P Pape (Castres), E Vermuelen (Clermont), JB Elissalde (Toulouse), D Traille (Biarritz), C Dominici (Stade Français) 15 C Paterson Edinburgh, capt

14 S Lamont Northampton

13 R Dewey Edinburgh

12 A Henderson Glasgow

11 N Walker Ospreys

10 D Parks Glasgow

9 R Lawson Gloucester

1 G Kerr Borders

2 R Ford Borders

3 E Murray Glasgow

4 N Hines Perpignan

5 S Murray Edinburgh

6 S Taylor Edinburgh

7 K Brown Borders

8 J Beattie Glasgow

Replacements D Hall , A Jacobsen (both Edinburgh), J Hamilton (Leicester), A Hogg (E'burgh), C Cusiter (Borders), M Di Rollo (Edinburgh), R Lamont (Glasgow)