It's not exactly surprising that Richie Gray should reflect on his first appearance at the Stade de France four years ago with some fondness.

It was his first Six Nations start - he had made three appearances as a replacement in the previous year's Championship - and it would be an understatement of some magnitude to say that he made a bit of an impression, He arrived as a promising newcomer; he left as a rugby superstar.

Gray was everywhere that February day in 2011. Granted, he is built on a scale that allows him to cover most of a pitch in half-a-dozen strides, but it was still a performance of astonishing energy and effectiveness. And while some might still harrumph that the attention the giant lock received that day owed as much to his hair-care regime - hair-neglect might be a more appropriate term - there was little question in less cynical minds that a major talent had just arrived.

It was also a performance that took Gray's earnings potential to the same stratospheric level from which he routinely gazes down at those of us who live rather more mundane and less well-rewarded lives than his. Small wonder that he was soon on the move to more lucrative pastures than he could find in Scotland: first to Sale, which he joined in the summer of 2012, and then to Castres one year later.

At which point, rugby anoraks might spot an unfortunate trend. Sale were a top-six side in England when Gray arrived, but they plummeted to 10th in the Aviva Premiership table while he was on their books. And while Castres had just won the French Top 14 Championship title when he pitched up in the Midi-Pyrenees, they are now rock bottom of the table and in grave risk of relegation.

Small wonder that he should relish the break from the domestic grind that returning to international duty brings. Aside from their troubles in the French league, Castres also had a disastrous European season, losing all six of their Champions Cup pool games.

"It's a nice change," said Gray of his return to Murrayfield, his smile a tacit acknowledgement of the understatement. "It's a fresh environment and it's an environment that's been going well for us.

"Obviously, its been quite tough domestically, a tough season. You just have to do what you can, work hard for your team and slog it out. But are by no means finished and we still have some pretty important league games to play."

Gray was the tyro phenomenon, only a few months past his 21st birthday, when he played that wonder game in Paris in 2011. Since when, of course, the age barrier has been lowered by his kid brother Jonny, a slip of a 19-year-old when he made his Scotland debut against South Africa in November 2013. The scope for sibling rivalry was fascinating, but the two Grays have since established themselves as the first-choice lock partnership for Scotland.

Will they still be in harness come the World Cup in September? "It would be pretty incredible," the elder Gray replied. "Just t be able to be in the team would be fantastic, but playing with my brother is something I'll never take for granted."

Of course, whatever the toils and travails of Castres, Gray does at least have a privileged insight into the personnel against whom Scotland will be trying to end their 16-year losing streak in Paris on Saturday. And heard a few hoots of derision from the crowd at his own club in recent months, he is also well aware that French players are not exactly comfortable in positions of adversity.

"When then crowd gets behind them and they do something well they grow and they grow and they get better and better," he observed. "But if you can stop them, stop what they want to do and silence the crowd thewn it works against them even more. Then maybe they start forcing things and things start to go wrong.

"In Paris, we are expecting the first twenty minutes to have a passionate crowd. It is the opening of the Six Nations, they are going to come flying out the blocks and we will need to weather the storm. If we can put pressure on them then maybe you'll see the crowd silenced a bit."

But what of his own performance there in 2011? Happy recollections? "Yeah," he smiled. "Fond memories of the game, fond memories of the occasion, But we did lose [34-21]. It was kind of my first Six Nations and I enjoyed the experience.

"Sometimes in rugby things just go your way and you get involved more. At other times you can run a round the pitch and never touch the ball. It's just the way it happens. So good memories from that game, apart from the result."