Scarlets’ No.8 Blade Thomson will make his Scotland debut on Saturday, with head coach Gregor Townsend ringing 14 changes for their Rugby World Cup warm-up match against France.

Following last weekend’s heavy 32-3 defeat in Paris, Townsend is desperate for a response at BT Murrayfield and has selected eight Guinness PRO14 players in his starting XV.

Thomson was initially called up during the autumn internationals but gets his first crack in a back-row that also features Glasgow Warriors’ Ryan Wilson and Edinburgh’s Hamish Watson.

Prop WP Nel is the other Edinburgh selection, while Tommy Seymour, Peter Horne, George Turner and Scott Cummings will join Wilson in representing the Warriors.

“Our first outing of the season was a disappointment and not reflective of the hard work our players have put in over the past two months,” Townsend said.

“France are a very dangerous side if you give them space and quick ball to play, which is what we allowed to happen on too many occasions last week. Our focus all week has been to remedy this and also create much more from our attacking game.

“It was a stark reminder of how tough things can be at international level if our standards slip.

“We expect our players to show a much truer picture of themselves this Saturday.”

Scotland team to face France:

15 Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs)

14 Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors)

13 Chris Harris (Gloucester)

12 Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors)

11 Sean Maitland (Exeter Chiefs)

10 Finn Russell (Racing 92)

9 Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne) ©

1 Gordon Reid (Ayrshire Bulls)

2 George Turner (Glasgow Warriors)

3 Willem Nel (Edinburgh)

4 Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors)

5 Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs)

6 Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors)

7 Hamish Watson (Edinburgh)

8 Blade Thomson (Scarlets)

Replacements:

16 Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors)

17 Allan Dell (London Irish)

18 Simon Berghan (Edinburgh)

19 Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh)

20 John Barclay (Edinburgh)

21 George Horne (Glasgow Warriors)

22 Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints)

23 Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh)