Familiarity with the traditional Scotland Six Nations storyline, a bait-and-switch tale where expectation is inevitably followed by disaster, has added a contemptuous edge to Greig Laidlaw's attitude.
The Scotland captain has been in this movie before. Often enough to have grown extremely weary of the same old plot.
To be blunt, he's had enough of seeing his dutifully-delivered cris de guerre disappear into the ether. Taken as much as any man can of Scotland sides talking a good game before a tackle is made... and then not backing up the chat with victory.
Greig Laidlaw feels the Scotland squad has enough quality to end the Six Nations hoodoo
As Gregor Townsend's men attempt to bolster a miserable away record and flip the switch on a Championship challenge, then, their on-field leader can barely contain his desperate need to see words backed by actions.
'We're playing good enough rugby to win and I've pushed that point home this week,' said the skipper. 'We're sick of talking about having opportunities to win and being confident before games.
'It's up to us now, as a group, as a collective, to take the step and win away from home. That's it.' For a man earning his 69th cap, a Stade de France victory would be a career highlight.
That says everything about how hard it is for Scotland sides to secure victory at a stadium wearing well over two decades on from its construction. The place was still fresh out of the wrapper, relatively speaking, on the only occasion when a Scottish XV secured victory here in St Denis.
Laidlaw is old enough to recall a time when Scots could pitch up in Paris full of justifiable hope.
Invited to share his memories of that glorious day in 1999, he revealed: 'My mum and dad were out here watching the game.
Scotland are hoping to put an add to their miserable away record when they face France
'I was home because I would just get in the way, so I watched it at my granny and papas.
'I remember us winning the game, which was tremendous and the celebrations after the game.
'It's something we want to have within our team, a big away win.' Since the Five Nations-winning campaign of '99, trips to the French capital have seen Scotland experience only close calls, one-sided hammerings and bruising bash-ups.
Given the febrile atmosphere surrounding a France squad still reeling from their humiliation at Twickenham, it hardly takes a psychic to predict how the home side will approach this one.
Yes, they've taken a Gallic gamble by pairing youngsters Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack at scrum-half and stand-off, suggesting at least a desire to remove some of the tactical shackles that have made them so predictable.
Not to put too fine a point on it, though, their first priority will still be to beat the living daylights out of the visitors. At the very least, the Scots will be asked to stand their ground when Les Bleus come storming into battle.
'I think, in the past, they would probably target us up front a little bit,'
