RECORDS are there to be broken. Some are less susceptible to being smashed than others, but they all fall in the end – which has to be good news for Scotland as they prepare to face France in Paris on Sunday.

The Stade de Colombes was a happy hunting ground half a century ago, but since then the Scots have won just once at each of the two stadiums to which the French national team have moved: at the Parc des Princes in 1995, and at the Stade de France four years later. The latter victory was Scotland’s first visit to the new ground on the outskirts of Paris, and it led to their being the last ever Five Nations Championships.

Many members of the current squad were too young back then to take much notice of what was going on,and it was so long ago that the current crop of players could hardly take direct lessons from that match. But, according to Tommy Seymour, who was 10 at the time, the 36-22 triumph can still be used as a useful reminder of how well Scottish teams can play.

“Obviously, inspiration can be taken,” said the winger, who should be named today in Vern Cotter’s starting line-up for the Six Nations match. “You want to remember the good times. You want to remember the times that your nation has done something they should be proud of – but it’s a completely different group of players.

“But you want to look at those occasions. More for us it’s a nice motivator, because they went out and did something that’s incredibly hard to do. You look at what they were able to achieve, what they got out of it, how they inspired a nation – and wouldn’t it be great if we could replicate that?

“We will remember it. But we’re not going to get too wrapped up in it.”

Nor are the squad going to get too wrapped up in the fact that, 18 years on, Scotland have yet to end up on the winning side in Paris again. For Seymour, that is simply a challenge and an inspiration for a team who, after beating Ireland 27-22 last Saturday to win their opening match in the tournament for the first time since 2006, will travel to France full of confidence.

“I use it as motivation and look at the fact that we haven’t won there since 1999 as an opportunity,” the Glasgow back said. “It’s actually exciting for us rather than something we have to overcome.

“We’ve had some very hard-fought losses recently over there, so before last year’s Six Nations when we played them at home we wanted to claim a win over them because of how close the previous fixtures had been. We’ve played very well in Paris in recent years and had very close games with them, but they’re a different side than what we’ve faced in some of the previous years and they look incredibly strong.

“They’re one of the strongest sides in the Six Nations, certainly in an attacking sense, because they’ve got threats all over the park. But we’ve got confidence against France certainly, although when it comes to playing at their stadium it’s a big motivator for them.”

The French only lost 19-16 to England last week, and will be formidable opponents. But, after beating Ireland and ending that decade-long run of opening-day failure, Scotland have more self-belief than they have enjoyed for years.

“We highlighted the fact we hadn’t won our first game in a while,” Seymour continued. “Obviously that’s important in tournaments like this – five games isn’t a particularly long time, so every fixture is important.

“Getting a win first up creates a little bit of momentum, especially as it was against Ireland ,who have had amazing results this year and given the success they’ve had in recent years. Without a doubt they’re one of the strongest sides.

“So to get a win against them is hugely important because we now know we can compete with the very best, which is something we believed anyway but needed to prove. It’s one thing saying it and believing it as a squad, but it’s time to start getting results and we’ve proved that we can do that.”