Coach Andy Robinson revealed the inclusion of the Glasgow stand-off was in order to play a more territorial game after France dominated in that department on Sunday.
He said: "We needed to improve our owning of territory, winning the territorial battle and marrying the two together of being able to play with the ball in hand but also looking to be able to dominate territory.
"We didn't do that well enough last week and while we showed some really good attacking intent, we turned too many balls over.
"Dan's coming in not just to kick the ball - we still want to move it, we still want to play with the ball in hand."
Elsewhere, Chris Paterson will become the first Scot to reach the landmark of 100 caps for his country.
Robinson congratulated Paterson. He said: "He has been a fantastic ambassador for the team and it's a tremendous honour for him to win his 100th cap. It's well-deserved and I'm looking forward to seeing him perform at the weekend."
Scotland
15 Chris Paterson (Edinburgh)
14 Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors)
13 Sean Lamont (Scarlets)
12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors)
11 Rory Lamont (Toulon)
10 Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors)
9 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors) CAPTAIN
1 Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester)
2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh)
3 Euan Murray (Northampton Saints)
4 Nathan Hines (Leinster)
5 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors)
6 Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors)
8 Johnnie Beattie (Glasgow Warriors)
7 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors)
Substitutes
16 Scott Lawson (Gloucester)
17 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh)
18 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors)
19 Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh)
20 Mike Blair (Edinburgh)
21 Phil Godman (Edinburgh)
22 Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Touch-judges: Alain Rolland (Ireland) and Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Geoff Warren (England)