IF you wanted to design a stadium with the express purpose of intimidating visiting teams, you would probably come up with something that looked a lot like the Stade de France.

And if you wanted a crowd who could pile on the hostility, you would probably want them to be French. Welcome to the Six Nations, Finn Russell.

The 22-year-old fly-half has made astonishing progress over the past 12 months. A year ago he was still a few notches down the pecking order at Glasgow, today he is Scotland's first-choice in the position. Along the way, he has astounded those around him with his composure, maturity and self-assurance. But the test he will face today is on a scale that he has never encountered before.

Sixteen years ago, when Scotland stunned the rugby world with their championship title-clinching 36-22 victory in their first-ever appearance in the Paris stadium, Gregor Townsend, Russell's Glasgow mentor, was in his pomp. It is easily forgotten that Townsend was not the playmaker Scotland had chosen at the start of the tournament. That role was given to Duncan Hodge, and only passed to Townsend when Hodge broke his leg in the first game of the 1999 campaign, against Wales.

But while Townsend now guides Russell on club business, Hodge looks after the tyro fly-half on the international stage. The national assistant coach has warmed to Russell as he has grown into his role as a Test player, but on the eve of today's match against France he also issued a warning that the intensity is about to be cranked up to a new level.

"It will be different for Finn," said Hodge. "The Six Nations is very different to what he experienced last summer and autumn. There is a different level of pressure.

"But I'm sure he'll cope fine. We are lucky that we have had continuity of selection with the guys around him."

In terms of guidance and leadership, the most important of those will be Greig Laidlaw, the captain and scrum-half who looked restored to his best in the autumn matches against Argentina, New Zealand and Tonga. But as far as Russell's general comfort levels are concerned, there may be more reassurance in having the Warriors' centre pairing of Mark Bennett and Alex Dunbar in the midfield and Tommy Seymour and Stuart Hogg in the back three.

There is considerable firepower in that backline selection, but on paper the Scots still lag in the arms race against France's stellar three-quarter line of Yoann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana and Teddy Thomas. Small wonder that so much of Scotland's preparations this week have been focused on disrupting French possession at source rather than waiting for those backs to start working their magic.

Much work has apparently also been done on addressing the eye-watering number of penalties Scotland have given away over the past couple of seasons. Of course, sides on the back foot - as the Scots so often have been recently - will always concede more than those who are charging boldly forward, but there has been more to it than referees simply going with the flow.

"Discipline is a massive part of the game," said Hodge. "The winning and losing of penalties, means field positions and kicks at goal. It is something we have talked about. We let ourselves down a bit in the autumn. Even in the first half against Tonga we gave away far too many penalties.

"We get referees in to training, we watch footage and we try to analyse what's going wrong. The next stage is putting it into practice on the pitch because if we continue in that vein we will struggle. We can't give away the number of penalties we have been and expect to beat the big teams away from home."

The truth of that maxim was hammered home to Russell on his last game in France just a couple of months ago. A clumsy tip tackle in the Warriors' Champions Cup encounter against Toulouse earned him a yellow card, and by the time he retired to the pitch his side had shipped 13 points.

"One slip up and that can cost you a game," said Russell ruefully. "There's a lot of focus on playing the referee [Nigel Owens of Wales] as well as we can, and not giving away penalties."

And yet, that note of caution aside, it was clear as he sat in the team's hotel in the north-western suburbs of Paris that Russell is charged with excitement rather than fear as he heads into the biggest match of his young career. "It might be a bit daunting running out in front of that crowd and knowing what the French can be like, but I'm just looking to enjoy it," he smiled.

Clearly, the Scots must build on the good things they were doing in November. Then, they rediscovered alacrity and purpose in their attacking play, and scores a hatful of impressive tries. Their lineout was restored to its best, as they lost possession on their own throw just once in three games yet stole opposition ball 12 times. Leaden at times in last year's Six Nations, they had a spring in their steps once again.

Vern Cotter, the new coach, took the scenic route to the Scotland job, but he is adamant his players should know where they are from and what they represent. Cotter invited Pipe Major Scott Methven into the fold recently to talk to the player about his recent combat experiences, and his words clearly affected Russell.

"He was talking about how a guy got shot one time but kept walking up and down the front line playing the bagpipes," recalled Russell. "He got shot a couple of times but still wanted to do the job. That's what the Scots do."