Blair is considered to be the in-form scrum-half

Blair's inclusion is one of three changes to Frank Hadden's side from the one that faced New Zealand last autumn.

Dougie Hall is in for Scott Lawson at hooker and Alastair Kellock makes his first appearance in the Six Nations at lock instead of Craig Hamilton.

Dan Parks starts at stand-off, with Chris Paterson on the wing.

Team guide: Scotland

Hadden said of his decision to choose Blair over Cusiter: "We are in a most fortunate position to have some real talent there and, as ever, it was a close call.

"Mike will start against France because he's in good form. He came on for Chris in the game against New Zealand and did well, so deserves a start.

"It is very much a case of horses for courses and I am sure that Chris will have an opportunity at some point in the championship.

It's a mouth-watering prospect playing against arguably one of the top two sides in the world Frank Hadden

"There's tremendous competition at hooker where Ross Ford is also hammering on the door. We monitored Dougie exceptionally closely during the autumn Tests and he starts in front of Scott Lawson on this occasion.

"Alastair Kellock has been a key figure for Edinburgh this season. He has nudged himself up the pecking order and is maturing into a powerful and athletic second row."

Stand-off was another position giving Hadden food for thought, with Dan Parks retaining the jersey he wore during the autumn Tests.

"Dan compared most favourably to the three stand-offs he was up against in the autumn," Hadden added.

Win Scotland v France tickets

Jason White will captain Scotland for the fourth time as he wins his 50th cap against France.

Hadden continued: "It's a fantastic milestone for Jason and I congratulate him on becoming the 20th Scot to win 50 or more international caps.

"It's a mouth-watering prospect playing against arguably one of the top two sides in the world, particularly after we played against one of the other top sides in the world in our last game.

"The challenge for us is to see what progress we have made since then."

Full team: H Southwell (Edinburgh), C Paterson (Edinburgh), M Di Rollo (Edinburgh), A Henderson (Glasgow), S Lamont (Northampton), D Parks (Glasgow), M Blair (Edinburgh), G Kerr (Leeds), D Hall (Edinburgh), B Douglas (Borders), A Kellock (Edinburgh), S Murray (Edinburgh), J White (Sale Sharks, captain), S Taylor (Edinburgh), A Hogg (Edinburgh).

Substitutes: S Lawson (Glasgow), C Smith (Edinburgh), S MacLeod (Borders), J Petrie (Glasgow ), C Cusiter (Borders), G Ross (Leeds), S Webster (Edinburgh).