Finn Russell: Ireland 'the best team in the world'

Scotland flyhalf Finn Russell acknowledged Ireland’s rugby supremacy after they clinched the 2024 Guinness Six Nations title with a gritty 17-13 victory against Scotland, declaring them the ‘best team in the world’.

Despite a tenacious battle at the Aviva Stadium, it was the Irish who emerged as back-to-back champions on ‘Super Saturday’, much to the delight of the home crowd. The celebrations were doubly sweet as they coincided with St. Patrick’s weekend, sparking vibrant revelry across Dublin.

Though not their most dazzling performance, Andy Farrell’s squad demonstrated plenty of resolve, none more so then when Andrew Porter crossed the line for a decisive second-half try.

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Russell, who has contended with the world’s best – including South Africa – within the past few months, had no reservations in hailing Ireland as the world’s number one team, despite the fact that the Boks won the Rugby World Cup and the All Blacks beat Ireland in the quarter-finals of the same tournament.

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“I think they’re brilliant. They’re probably the best team in the world.

“Majority of them probably come from Leinster, so they’re so well aligned. It makes it tough to break them down and find weaknesses in the team.

“However, coming to the Aviva when they are have everything on the line, and us putting that performance in. We probably had the chance to… maybe to have won the game if we hadn’t let in a couple of soft tries, maybe we could have won the game, I’m not sure.

“I think they are the best team in the world and this is probably the hardest place to come and get a victory.”

Russell contends that Scotland need a substantial mental shift after their Triple Crown aspirations were thwarted by Ireland. Despite the spirited performance, he lamented Scotland’s erratic play, which led to a disappointing three losses in the tournament from five games.

“Today we are progressing,” said Russell. “That mentality we had today and that cohesiveness, especially in defence, was brilliant.

“But throughout the campaign we need to get mentally stronger. We need to get better and put in performances week in, week out.

“We’ve had spells in this competition that we’ve been brilliant but at the same time we’ve had spells where we’ve allowed teams to get on the front foot and get momentum.

“We are progressing and it’s tough only winning two games and saying we’re progressing but this campaign will make us better come the summer, then November and next season’s Six Nations.

“From a personal opinion, I think mentally we need to get a lot better and not drift at moments in the game.

“We need to be in every moment of the game and that’s a big work on for us.

“Today, we were there for probably 90 per cent of the game, just a couple of moments that allowed Ireland into it. And, probably the best team in the world, you can’t do that over here.”