Scotland have delivered an encouraging update on the health of their co-captains ahead of this Saturday’s Six Nations finale against France. Finn Russell, who had to come off early against Wales at the weekend after “cramping up”, is fit and ready to lead the squad in Paris. Rory Darge’s situation is less clearcut but defence coach Steve Tandy said they were “really hopeful” the back-row forward would recover in time. Darge suffered a blow to the hip and was replaced by Matt Fagerson just before half-time in the win over Wales. “He’s alright,” said Tandy. “He’s a little bit sore but he's progressing through the days. He's getting better so we're really hopeful around Rory. He says he's feeling better as the week goes on. “[It was] a bit of a bang. It's nothing major but it's just that obviously you're waiting for that to ease. And after about three or four days, they tend to really settle down.” If Darge were to miss out, Matt Fagerson would almost certainly step up to the starting side, creating a vacancy on the bench which could open the door for one of the squad’s more inexperienced players. Ben Muncaster, who made his Scotland debut against Portugal in November, and the uncapped Jack Mann are two back-row contenders who could step in. Mann rejoined the squad this week following a concussion and has been in excellent form for Glasgow Warriors this season. Muncaster, similarly, has been a stand-out for Edinburgh although both players are untested at Six Nations level. Adam Hastings, the Glasgow Warriors stand-off, also joined the squad this week, leading to speculation over Russell’s fitness but Tandy played down any concerns about the playmaker. “Finn's okay, Finn's all good,” said Tandy. He said Hastings’ call-up after his recovery from a facial injury was to help with “numbers in training”. “With Adam, it's great to see him back playing,” added Tandy. “It'll be good to get Adam and [Kyle Steyn] in and around our environment for two days.” Steyn, who has not played since injuring his knee in January, also joined the squad this week along with Alexander Masibaka, the uncapped back-row forward from French second-tier side Soyaux-Angouleme. After two wins and two defeats in their opening four games Scotland’s title chances are all but over, with France now in pole position following their stunning win over Ireland at the Aviva. A packed Stade de France is likely to be jumping on Saturday night, with an expectant home support hoping to see their team crowned champions for the first time since 2022. Tandy warned that Scotland were likely to have to survive some “hairy moments” but believes the team can be inspired by the atmosphere in Saint-Denis. “The crowd in Paris are always unreal, but the boys thrive in those environments, and I think they get excited by it,” said the assistant coach. “There will always be a feeling that the stadium's against you but sometimes that can inspire you to do special things.” France will be without their captain, Antoine Dupont, who ruptured cruciate ligaments against Ireland but Maxime Lucu proved an able deputy as the visitors won 42-27 in Dublin. Tandy is braced for a stringent test of Scotland’s defensive capabilities. “You're going to have to survive some hairy moments in France because you know you could do the best thing in your own defence, but they could still get an offload away. So it's always striving to get that 80-minute performance,” he said. He added that Scotland would continue to trust their own attacking instincts. “I think there's always those subtle tweaks around what you see in the opposition and they’re obviously adapting to you. But I think the best teams have a style in what they do. “But the underlying principles of how you want to play and how you see the game don't tend to change. Otherwise it gets pretty confusing for the players. So we've got how we want to go, and as you see, we play some great rugby. So I don't see that changing on the weekend.”