So post cull here is a team that looks pretty close to the top side available lining up to face France in Paris this Saturday. There’s reasonable heft on the bench as well as the experience of the Big Stroker and Sean Lamont. Pete Horne will be wrapped in cotton rule (as will Stuart Hogg) but he’s the sort of impact/game-changer we should see on the bench during the World Cup.
Scotland team to play France: Sean Maitland, Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett, Matt Scott, Tim Visser, Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw (captain); Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, Willem Nel, Richie Gray, Jonny Gray, Ryan Wilson, John Hardie, David Denton.
Replacements: Fraser Brown, Gordon Reid, Jon Welsh, Tim Swinson, Alasdair Strokosch, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Duncan Weir, Sean Lamont.
UPDATE: here’s the French team they will line up against:
France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Bernard le Roux, 20 Yannick Nyanga, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Rémi Talès, 23 Alexandre Dumoulin