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Finn Russell sends ominous warning to Wallabies
By PA
Finn Russell insists the British and Irish Lions have arrived in Sydney for the final week of their Australia tour intent on completing a series whitewash over the Wallabies.
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The rivals delivered an all-time classic in the second Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground, but it was Andy Farrell’s men who held their nerve to emerge 29-26 winners.
Now they are chasing the 100 per cent record Down Under that Farrell set as a pre-tour target – an achievement that has not been managed since the 1927 visit to Argentina.
Russell, who started the celebrations wearing a chocolate garland given to some of the players by Sione Tuipulotu, views the looming Sydney Olympic Park showdown as a must-win occasion.
“Everyone here has been gunning for this for their whole career. To get to the Lions is one thing and then to get a series win is another,” the Scotland fly-half said.
“This is my third tour and I’ve not won one so it’s special to get this, bringing four nations together to be a family for five, six weeks.
“So to get the series is amazing, but the job’s still not done yet. We need to go and try and finish it off. Even though we’ve got the series, we want to finish on a high. Everyone wants to play in that game.”
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Russell has been a key figure in the Lions’ first series triumph since 2013, forging an influential half-back partnership with Jamison Gibson Park that has been among the tourists’ greatest strengths.
On current form the best fly-half in the game, the 32-year-old is finally getting the accolades that his talent deserves after piloting Bath to Gallagher Premiership, Challenge Cup and Premier Cup success in the recent club season.
“I’ve learned another style of rugby at Bath. It’s a different style that’s about getting control back because of the backs that we have to launch,” he said.
“It’s changed the way I look at the game a little bit. On Saturday, we had a couple of calls on their 10 metre line and I’m looking at kick plays rather than launching straight away.
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“I’m loving my rugby right now. Some of the boys might say it’s the most confident I’ve been and it’s my best rugby, which might be true, it might not.
“I’ve not won much in my career so to have won the titles at Bath and now this, it’s amazing, it’s so special.”