EVEN though France have been deprived of some of their best players, Richie Gray still believes Scotland will have to play even better than they did in the Calcutta Cup if they are to emerge victorious on Sunday.

Finn Russell is currently the only member of Gregor Townsend’s squad to play his club rugby in France, but Gray plied his trade there for eight years from 2012 and arguably knows the mentality of French players even better than the stand-off does. And, while acknowledging that the loss of captain Charles Ollivon and scrum-half Antoine Dupont among others has to make a difference, the second-row forward is all too well aware of the strength in depth available to replace those two and the other nine who are unavailable after testing positive for Covid.

“The challenge will be just as tough,” said Gray, who came off the bench in Scotland’s two previous Six Nations games, the win over England at Twickenham and the home defeat by Wales which followed. “French rugby has got crazy depth.

“A good example of that is the England game in the autumn, which was against what was dubbed the French third team. But they went over to Twickenham and almost pulled off a victory.

“They can call on a lot of players - there is a lot of talent. Any time you play France in France it’s going to be a really tough challenge, so we need to be prepared for it.

“It’s a few years since we won there - 1999 was the last time - so it’s a great opportunity to go over there and produce a performance and hopefully get a win but everyone is aware of how tough it will be. We certainly have the talent in the squad to do it, but it will be a really tough encounter and we have to be at our best to win.

“We have to go up a gear from that Twickenham game, and we’re aware of that. We need to keep improving. Everybody was chuffed to bits. People were saying how proud we made them. That was really important to us and we hope we can do that again.”

Down the decades France have invariably been able to call on some inspired players, but inconsistency has often come with that inspiration. Under head coach Fabien Galthie and defence coach Shaun Edwards, however, they have added a lot of solidity to their approach while still being able to rely on some of their star names to produce a piece of magic.

“They have struck a really good balance,” Gray continued. “They play smart rugby and get out of their half really well. They are quite structured, but within that structure they have their x-factor players who are able to do it in the big moments. They have the balance really well between structure and using players’ abilities to their best.”

For whatever reason, Scotland have not used Gray’s abilities in recent years. His two caps this month were his first for three years, and his last start was further away, in 2017.

But he insisted that he never lost his desire to play for his country, and that, at 31, his appetite for further involvement has been whetted by the recent improvements made on the field. “The appetite has always been there. When I got back into the squad environment it has grown and grown and I want more and more.

“Things can change very quickly. It’s a cliché, but I play every game as if it’s my last.”