The 9-8 victory over Australia in Murrayfield was Scotland’s first defeat of the Wallabies in 27 years and they will again need to upset the odds against a powerful French team.

Having played for Top 14 giants Perpignan for two years, Cusiter knows full well what to expect from the French and he maintains the key will be preventing Marc Lievremont’s side finding their feet early in the match.

He said: “I feel our underdog status suits us well at Murrayfield and to beat a team like Australia in the autumn was massive for our confidence.

“This is the side I look forward to playing against the most; I love the way they play rugby, I love the country, the people and it's a great honour to play against them.

“I haven't had a massive amount of success against them, winning just one game in 2006, and they are one of the best sides in the world on their day.

“We have a game-plan for France and know the threats they will pose us, but we are in control of whether we win or lose this game.

"We have talked about starting with a bang; that's hugely important for us because if we let them settle as we did two years ago the game will be over before half-time.

“There are 62,000 tickets sold so far and we have to get them involved early on and let France know we're playing at home and that we're a proud team.”