THE bigger the stage, the more some players look at home. There is a bit of swagger about them as the wander around in front of 60, 70 or 80 thousand people with every angle and curve of their body language saying "this is where I belong".

The big change in the Scotland team of late is that there have been a growing number of players in the side who are starting to look exactly like that. Stuart Hogg was the first; but if you really want a player who looks as though he owns the place, look no further than Finn Russell at fly half.

Twenty three caps and almost three years after he made a bit of a hash of his debut cap in Houston, he is still growing into the role, but one thing you can be sure of is that any issues have nothing to do with a lack of self assurance.

Vern Cotter, the head coach, and Jason O'Halloran, who is in charge of attack, seem happy to give him the licence to play and take risks plays right into his hands.

Russell is ready, he says, to unleash his ever-growing bag of tricks against France tomorrow in the certain knowledge that as long as he can explain himself to the brains trust in the stands, he won't get into trouble.

"I think I am free to do what I want as long as there is a reason behind it – I hope!" he said as the team prepared to fly to Paris for the game. "Vern [Cotter] has looked at the games and he knows French rugby really well, but Greig [Laidlaw, the captain] and I have looked at them quite a lot too

"You can’t just throw the ball wide, wide against France because they will fly up – they have smart players and will read that. We will play wide sometimes, but we will also have to play through them.

"We need to get the balance right between going round them, through them and over them. We can’t just expect to stick to one game plan. If we see things we might go for them on the hoof. You have to adapt to the situation."

Russell is a huge part of why Scotland have developed that capacity to win games. Even back in the days when his mentor at Glasgow Warriors, Gregor Townsend, was the main man, there were doubts about his best position and you have to go back to John Rutherford for the last Scotland fly half so assured of his place in the key pivotal role.

Not that Russell is error free. While he controlled the first half against Ireland superbly and helped marshal the Scots forces for the final-quarter revival, there was a daft kick that Connor Murray latched onto, which might have cost a try, and another lost ball that set Rob Kearney free.

The vital aspect of Russell, though, is that there is no sign at all that these things worry him. A few seconds later he is back to his bubbling, enthusiastic best.

Nor is it a one-man show. Greig Laidlaw, inside him, keeps Russell's exuberance in check, while the flay half is keen to enthuse about the influence that Alex Dunbar has both as an attacking threat and defensive organiser outside him.

That, he admits, could be significant against France, who are almost certainly busy painting a target onto Russell's chest and giving their powerhouse back row instructions to aim for it.

"I'll go for their ankles and I will be all right," Russell suggested with a grin. "They have big back three [of the scrum] and [Louis] Picamoles was outstanding last week against England – I am not looking forward too much to him coming at me.

"It is part of the game, though. One of these things – as a 10 you are going to get these guys coming at you. There is generally a 12 who can help you out or a seven inside, but you are going to get isolated at times. It is part of the sport, you have to get used to it I guess.

"Alex Dunbar in midfield is tremendous though. He helps me out quite a lot in defence and reads the game really well."

This will be the third time he has faced France, helping the Scots to win at BT Murrayfield last season, playing a key part when they went for a win rather than accept a draw in Paris in the World Cup warm-up game and part of the seven point defeat earlier that year.

"To win this time would be brilliant," he added. "It is quite a while, 1999, since we last won there. If we could go over there and get a win, it would be massive for us as a team, a nation and in the competition. It would put us two from two and in a good position going into the last three games. It would be brilliant."