Familiarity with the traditional Scotland Six Nations storyline, a bait-and-switch tale where expectation is inevitably followed by disaster, has added a contemptuous edge to Greig Laidlaw’s attitude.

The Scotland captain has been in this movie before. Often enough to have grown extremely weary of the same old plot.

To be blunt, he’s had enough of seeing his dutifully-delivered cris de guerre disappear into the ether. Taken as much as any man can of Scotland sides talking a good game before a tackle is made… and then not backing up the chat with victory.

Greig Laidlaw feels the Scotland squad has enough quality to end the Six Nations hoodoo

As Gregor Townsend’s men attempt to bolster a miserable away record and flip the switch on a Championship challenge, then, their on-field leader can barely contain his desperate need to see words backed by actions.

‘We’re playing good enough rugby to win and I’ve pushed that point home this week,’ said the skipper. ‘We’re sick of talking about having opportunities to win and being confident before games.

‘It’s up to us now, as a group, as a collective, to take the step and win away from home. That’s it.’ For a man earning his 69th cap, a Stade de France victory would be a career highlight.

That says everything about how hard it is for Scotland sides to secure victory at a stadium wearing well over two decades on from its construction. The place was still fresh out of the wrapper, relatively speaking, on the only occasion when a Scottish XV secured victory here in St Denis.

Laidlaw is old enough to recall a time when Scots could pitch up in Paris full of justifiable hope.

Invited to share his memories of that glorious day in 1999, he revealed: ‘My mum and dad were out here watching the game.

Scotland are hoping to put an add to their miserable away record when they face France

‘I was home because I would just get in the way, so I watched it at my granny and papas.

‘I remember us winning the game, which was tremendous and the celebrations after the game.

‘It’s something we want to have within our team, a big away win.’ Since the Five Nations-winning campaign of ’99, trips to the French capital have seen Scotland experience only close calls, one-sided hammerings and bruising bash-ups.

Given the febrile atmosphere surrounding a France squad still reeling from their humiliation at Twickenham, it hardly takes a psychic to predict how the home side will approach this one.

Yes, they’ve taken a Gallic gamble by pairing youngsters Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack at scrum-half and stand-off, suggesting at least a desire to remove some of the tactical shackles that have made them so predictable.

Not to put too fine a point on it, though, their first priority will still be to beat the living daylights out of the visitors. At the very least, the Scots will be asked to stand their ground when Les Bleus come storming into battle.

‘I think, in the past, they would probably target us up front a little bit,’ said Laidlaw, searching for reasons behind Scotland’s dismal record in France.

‘But I think we’ve overcome that and I really think we’ve got the game to challenge them now.

‘That’s the first port of call tomorrow, our set-piece and our defence. If we function there, we give ourselves a great foothold in the game.

‘We’ve spoken a lot about our defence because it’s going to be a massive part of tomorrow’s game.

‘If we come out and defend well, certainly the first 20 minutes, that will be key.

‘Because the France guys are definitely going to come flying out of the blocks tomorrow.

‘They’ve got a lot to prove in front of their own people.

‘So we’ve prepared for that, we’re ready to combat that – and to put our own imprint on the game in the first 20.’ Laidlaw has had limited exposure to the half-back pairing of Dupont and Ntamack, having never played against them as a partnership. He is wary of writing them off as newbies, yet pretty open about Scotland wanting to put ‘massive pressure’ on the duo.

Assistant coach Mike Blair may have described the French 9-10 axis as ‘young and free.’

But it’s hard to feel very free when you’re being hit every three minutes.

Blair, who experienced his fair share of disappointments in Paris as Scotland’s scrum-half over a ten-year international career, is wary of being too caught up in worrying about how to stop the opposition.

‘With international rugby, you get a lot of time to study the opposition,’ he said. ‘But our focus has to be on ourselves.

‘We’ll look at who we’re playing and potential ways to exploit them – but, if you can execute your own game on the pitch, then that will only enhance your chances.

‘It can be tricky to analyse, especially with young guys coming into their side. Dupont, Ntamack and (Thomas) Ramos are all excellent attacking players.

‘They play with a lot of flair and there is a lot of individual talent in there. If we give them time and space, then they will do a lot of damage to us.

Scotland enter the fixture following their recent 13-22 defeat by Ireland at Murrayfield

‘We need to put pressure on the half-backs and not allow them to run the show. We need to slow down their ball and not allow them to cut loose.’ Six of Scotland’s starting XV have never faced France here before, with another five on the bench experiencing this place for the first time.

In a Championship where Townsend has lost key influencers like Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg, the danger is that the visitors are simply not canny enough to win a tight encounter.

Peter Horne will be absolutely crucial in his role deputising for the injured Russell, while the same applies to Blair Kinghorn trying to fill Hogg’s boots at full-back.

‘It’s clear that Pete and Finn are different players but we haven’t really had to make too many changes,’ said Blair of the switch at stand-off.

‘Finn plays in a slightly flashier manner and he helps facilitate the other players around him.

‘International rugby is all about striking that balance between controlling a game and imposing your attacking game.

‘It’s the responsibility of the nine and ten to get that balance right, but we also have Blair at 15 who has a strong kicking game.

‘I don’t think the guys who haven’t been here before will be overawed by it.

‘They’ll see the sun shining, recognise the fact it’s a beautiful pitch and a great place to go and play some rugby.

‘They’ll be desperate to show what they can do with a fast pitch. I don’t think there is a fear there.’