'My big worry is if we lose Russell, then Jaco Van Der Walt comes in' - Lions prop not convinced by 10 back-up
Scotland must do everything they can to keep Finn Russell out of harm’s way if they want to mount a credible challenge for Six Nations glory, according to former prop Peter Wright.
Russell is back in Gregor Townsend’s squad after playing less than an hour of Test rugby during 2020.
The Scots saw their preparations for last year’s championship thrown into disarray just days before their opener in Ireland when Russell was stood down from action following a breakdown in relations between their star playmaker and the head coach.
After missing the first four games of the tournament, the Racing 92 stand-off did eventually patch things up with Townsend but his comeback was halted on just his second outing as he suffered a leg injury in Scotland’s delayed Six Nations curtain-closer in Wales, ruling him out of the Autumn Nations Cup.
With Adam Hastings also injured, Scotland were forced to turn to Duncan Weir and newly-qualified South African Jaco Van Der Walt to steer them through their November matches, with the latter retaining his place in the 35-man squad named for this year’s Six Nations.
It is Russell’s return that has former British and Irish Lion Wright believing Scotland now have the magic touch that could set up a campaign to remember.
But he fears the worst if Townsend ends up having to let Edinburgh pivot Van Der Walt take the saddle.
Wright told the PA news agency: “Finn Russell is the key for me. If you keep him fit Scotland have a realistic chance. I think we could even finish second.
“My big worry is if we lose Russell, then Jaco Van Der Walt comes in and I just don’t think he’s an international rugby player.
“I watched him at the weekend for Edinburgh against Zebre and he was hardly mentioned. He got man of the match but all he did was kick the points.
“He doesn’t control games. He’s a very solid defender but in every knock-out game Edinburgh have had with him in the saddle, they’ve imploded.
“Look at the games against Bordeaux and Ulster. They collapsed in both those matches, so for me he is not an international 10. I don’t think he’s proved himself good enough to play for Scotland whereas I think Duncy Weir has.
“If they lose Russell then I can’t see Van Der Walt being a guy that international teams will worry about. So my advice to Gregor is to do everything he can to keep Finn Russell fit.”
Scotland open their campaign with a Calcutta Cup clash at Twickenham on February 6.
Their last visit to London witnessed an all-time classic as Townsend’s team put on a second-half masterclass to recover from 31 points down and claim an astonishing 38-38 draw.
And Wright believes this year’s behind-closed-doors game could allow Scotland to go one better and register their first win south of the border since 1983.
“We have got a real shot of beating England at Twickenham in the opener,” said the BBC Scotland pundit.
“The Saracens players have been key to them for the last wee while but they haven’t played any rugby at all this year so guys like Maro Itoje, Billy Vunipola, Owen Farrell and Elliot Daly will be totally undercooked.
“That has to be an advantage to Scotland, who will be battle-hardened.
“I also think the fact there will be no crowd down there will be big factor too. Certainly when I played at Twickenham, I found it to be the worst atmosphere I ever played in. I hated the atmosphere down there.
“It wasn’t a Paris, a Cardiff or a Dublin, where it felt electric for both teams. But as a Scottish player I never enjoyed Twickenham so I think the absence of fans will benefit Scotland this time.
“That will probably be true for all the away teams but hopefully Scotland can get off to a winning start and carry that momentum into their home games.
“I think France will win the tournament looking at the squad they have available so I don’t think we’ll win in Paris – but I think second place is there for us to claim.
“Wales and arguably Ireland seem to be in a bit of a transition spell so we have a reasonable chance in the three home games.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Anna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to comments