Kelly Brown admits that Scotland's best Six Nations campaign in recent memory may not be enough to see him hold onto the captaincy.
Wounded animal
Scotland will run out at the Stade de France with the aim of recording their third victory in a single Six Nations campaign for only the second time in seven years.
Their opponents, by contrast, have just one point to their name after opening the tournament with defeats to Italy, Wales and England before last week's 13-13 draw with Ireland in Dublin.
Brown now expects the fiercest of early assaults from the hosts as they look to make up for a miserable campaign in front of their demanding home support.
But the former Glasgow man believes another staunch display - perhaps similar to the one which so frustrated Ireland in their surprise 12-8 defeat at Murrayfield last month - could yet turn the fickle Parisian crowd against the fragile French squad.
He said: "It's been a really positive campaign. Whatever happens tomorrow, it will be our best finish since 2006, so that is a good sign but we want to make sure this is a long-term change in fortune.
"We need to start well. There's no doubt the French are a wounded animal. They will come out and absolutely fire into us.
"They have picked a massive team so they want to batter us, clearly.
"If we start well, we can put them under a bit of pressure. If we can do that, the crowd will turn against them and we can use that as a bit of a weapon.
"We're looking to meet fire with fire at the start. The French have not won yet in this championship so there is no doubt that if we begin positively, that will sow the seeds of doubt."
