Lock Gray, who tips the scales at 19st 9lb and stands 6ft 10in tall, will partner captain and Warriors teammate Alastair Kellock in the boiler room with the versatile Nathan Hines moving to blindside flanker.

Hines’ inclusion interrupts the ‘Killer Bs’ unit from last year’s Six Nations with Johnnie Beattie working his way back to full fitness and Kelly Brown moving to the No.8 position. John Barclay retains his position at openside.

De Luca’s selection at inside centre sees Max Evans move out to the wing alongside Nikki Walker who makes his first Six Nations start in three years with the back three being completed by full-back Hugo Southwell.

The front-row of Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford and Euan Murray and half-back pairing of Dan Parks and Rory Lawson are the same combinations that helped defeat Samoa 19-16 in Scotland’s last fixture.

Scotland have never defeated France in Paris since the Championship became the Six Nations with their last away victory over Les Bleus coming when Gregor Townsend inspired them to a famous 36-22 win in 1999.

And Robinson is hoping Scotland’s recent form which has included a defeat of World champions South Africa and an away series victory over Argentina can be continued across the Channel.

He said: “International rugby is about maintaining forward momentum and, as test matches go, France in the cauldron of Stade de France will be a stern examination.

“I’ve remarked before that Scotland have produced some stirring one-off victories in the championship in the recent past and that what we need to do is produce winning performances consistently.

“We showed last year that that could be achieved following up our win against Ireland with our tour results in Argentina, though we know that we must be 100% on our top game for that aim to be realised.”

15 - Hugo Southwell (Stade Francais)
14 - Nikki Walker (Ospreys)
13 - Joe Ansbro (Northampton Saints)
12 - Nick De Luca (Edinburgh)
11 - Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors)
10 - Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues)
9 - Rory Lawson (Gloucester)
1 - Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh)
2 - Ross Ford (Edinburgh)
3 - Euan Murray (Northampton Saints)
4 - Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors)
5 - Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors)
6 - Nathan Hines (Leinster)
7 - John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors)
8 - Kelly Brown (Saracens)

Replacements
16 - Dougie Hall (Glasgow Warriors)
17 - Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors)
18 - Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors)
19 - Ross Rennie (Edinburgh)
20 - Mike Blair (Edinburgh)
21 - Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors)
22 - Sean Lamont (Scarlets)