'Nothing to lose' - Scotland's Six Nations Paris mission as party-poopers and warning over Dupont deputy

A bonus-point victory for Fabien Galthie’s side will see them clinch the championship, and any sort of win is likely to be enough given the huge points advantage France have over their rivals.

Scotland, who defeated Wales 35-29 in Edinburgh on Saturday, are all but out of the running after losses to Ireland and England and Townsend was left once again to rue the missed opportunity at Twickenham in round three when Finn Russell was off target with a last-minute conversion to win the match.

"That's sport and we are obviously disappointed not to be in the mix for the final week, but we delivered a bonus point win on Saturday, and obviously had almost a very good away win last game,” said the Scotland coach. “And now we've got one game left, so we've just got to show what we're about.

“We'll be tested hugely over the 80 minutes - physically, our focus - but it's also an opportunity when we've got nothing to lose to just go out there and play the rugby we've been playing for a lot of the Six Nations, but also be really physical in our defence, our set-piece, because that's where they'll come after us.”

France produced a stirring performance in Dublin to defeat Ireland 42-27 on Saturday and move above the back-to-back champions at the top of the table. The win came at a cost for the French who lost their talismanic captain Antoine Dupont to a knee injury in the first half. But Townsend has warned that his replacement, Maxime Lucu, is an outstanding player.

“Lucu is part of a very good Bordeaux team. They put almost 70 points on Exeter [Bordeaux won 69-17 away in the Champions Cup in January], and he was outstanding that day. So they've got other nines as well who are quality.”

Blair Kinghorn, who scored two tries against Wales and was man of the match, has urged Scotland to be party-poopers in Paris.

“It's going to be a massive game over there, they'll be going for the championship and we'll look to spoil the party,” said the full-back.

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