Former Scotland A centre Nick de Luca will make his full debut against France © Getty Images

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Matches: Scotland 6 - 27 France

Players/Officials: Vincent Clerc

Nick De Luca will make his Scotland debut in the RBS 6 Nations clash with France - but Chris Paterson has been left out of the side for Sunday's clash at Murrayfield. Coach Frank Hadden confirmed that 23-year-old Edinburgh player De Luca will start at centre alongside Andrew Henderson, who has been passed fit to add some ballast to the midfield.

But it is the omission of Paterson, who has been struggling for game time at Gloucester, which is the biggest surprise. Rory Lamont plays at full-back with Simon Webster and Nikki Walker on the wings.

By leaving out Paterson, the onus will be on Dan Parks to kick for goal with the same pinpoint accuracy as the man who captained Scotland in last season's Six Nations. First-choice skipper Jason White leads the team into this championship. Hadden explained, "A lot of people focus on the XV but as far as I'm concerned as a coach the emphasis is on the 22 and if you look at my track record I have made full use of the 22. Chris Paterson is still an integral part of the Scotland squad."

Dumfries born De Luca becomes Scotland's 1006th internationalist in a team that also includes John Barclay, the 21-year-old Glasgow Warriors openside flanker, who will be making his first Six Nations start.

Nine of the Scotland players who began the Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Argentina last October are listed in this XV with Simon Webster switching from outside centre to wing. Those introduced since that match at the Stade de France are Nikki Walker, De Luca, Andrew Henderson, Allan Jacobsen and Dave Callam, albeit Henderson was introduced from the bench then.

Sunday is a double landmark for Henderson - his 28th birthday and his 50th cap, the 22nd Scot to reach such a milestone. Scotland head coach Frank Hadden said: "I'm very happy with the squad and with the genuine competition for places that has caused a few selection headaches."

Hadden had noted that Scotland were among the youngest squads at the Rugby World Cup. "I was looking forward to working with a more experienced group of players yet we're now six months younger on average.

"That said, I'm very happy with the level of experience of this group of players. The youngsters who have come in, John Barclay and Nick De Luca, have done so on merit. Our track record in Scotland of developing players in the pro-teams is tremendous and to see John and Nick simply demanding to be chosen for the national team is a perfect example of that."

Winger Walker, who scored Scotland's opening try against France in Paris last year, will be joining 13 of his Ospreys team-mates in an international starting line-up this weekend. Hadden added: "Nikki is another player whose displays in the Magners League and the Heineken Cup mean he is fully worthy of a starting slot."

Marc Lievremont insists he has total faith in France's new breed after opting to blood four uncapped players in his starting XV for Sunday's clash. Fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc, winger Julien Malzieu and props Lionel Faure and Julien Brugnaut will make their Les Bleus debuts this weekend.

Flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo and lock Loic Jacquet, who have just three caps between them, also start. Only six players in Lievremont's line-up featured at last year's World Cup, and the team have an inexperienced look about them as they look to defend a title they have claimed the last two years.

Lievremont is confident, however, the newcomers have what it takes to make a smooth transition onto the international scene. "They are not here just to have walk-on parts,'' said the former Dax coach, who will have two other uncapped players - 19-year-old scrum-half Morgan Parra and lock Arnaud Mela - on the bench.

"We want to see them. Some start, some don't. The main thing that concerns us is the homogeneity and the blending between the old guys and the new ones. We have spoken a lot these last few days about confidence and taking the initiative; now, we must prove it.

"We have full confidence in them. We are delighted because you would have thought these kids would be a bit timid, but they have done a lot. There is a great atmosphere on and off the pitch.''

Of the gambles the new Les Bleus coach is taking, the selection of Trinh-Duc at the problem position of number 10 is the biggest. The Montpellier fly-half, who displaces David Skrela from the line-up, has been in good form for his club this season and Lievremont knows him from the pair's time in the Under-21 set-up.

Lievremont believes Murrayfield is the right stage to introduce the 21-year-old.

"Francois Trinh-Duc has fully reassured us of his potential and his intentions,'' he added. "We must see him. Would it have been wiser to see him start in Paris where there will be more pressure on him?

"Should we leave him on the bench and risk having a lack of experience at the end of the match with him and Morgan Parra on the field? We are confident that he should start with (Jean-Baptiste) Elissalde at half-back and the centre pairing of (Damien) Traille and (Florian) Fritz by his side.''

Ouedraogo, 21, surprisingly gets the nod over World Cup star Julien Bonnaire at flanker and in-form William Servat beats Dimitri Szarzewski to the hooker role. Castres lock Lionel Nallet is named as captain for the first time and partners Clermont-Auvergne's Jacquet in the second row.

Cedric Heymans, a winger by trade, will fill in at full-back, while Fritz returns from the international wilderness to partner Traille in midfield in the absence of Yannick Jauzion. With prop Jean-Baptiste Poux (quadriceps) ruled out yesterday, Nicolas Mas has been called up and is on the bench.

Lievremont is excited at the prospect of his first tournament in charge of Les Bleus, but is not expecting his team to come away from this weekend with a blot-free copybook.

"I am impatient,'' said the former France flanker. "There will be nervousness and emotion. Having lived these experiences as a player, it's great to be back here. "They have to take the mantle and make mistakes. It is only by doing this that they will learn. We are not asking a 21-year-old to have a perfect game.''

Scotland: R Lamont (Sale Sharks); N Walker (Ospreys), N De Luca (Edinburgh), A Henderson (Glasgow Warriors), S Webster (Edinburgh); D Parks (Glasgow Warriors), M Blair (Edinburgh); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton Saints), N Hines (Perpignan), J Hamilton (Leicester Tigers), J White (Sale Sharks, captain), J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), D Callam (Edinburgh).

Replacements: F Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), G Kerr (Edinburgh), S MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), K Brown (Glasgow Warriors), C Cusiter (Perpignan), C Paterson (Gloucester), H Southwell (Edinburgh).

France: C Heymans (Toulouse); J Malzieu (Clermont Auvergne), D Marty (Perpignan), D Traille (Biarritz), V Clerc (Toulouse); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), J-B Elissalde (Toulouse); S Faure (Sale), W Servat (Toulouse), J Brugnaut (Dax), L Nallet (Castres, capt), L Jacquet (Clermont Auvergne), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), T Dusautoir (Toulouse), E Vermeulen (Clermont Auvergne).

Replacements: N Mas (Perpignan), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), A Mela (Albi), J Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne), M Parra (Bourgoin), D Skrela (Stade Francais), A Rougerie (Clermont Auvergne).

Referee: A. Rolland (Ire)

Touch Judges: B. Lawrence, T. Hirabayashi

TMO: C. White