Russell warned he must make the first move to salvage Scotland career
Finn Russell has been told it is down to him to salvage his Scotland career after he was stood down for the Guinness Six Nations opener with Ireland following a late-night drinking session.
The maverick Racing 92 stand-off’s participation in the rest of the championship has been thrown into serious doubt after Gregor Townsend decided he had no option but to take disciplinary action when Russell failed to report for training on Monday morning.
The fall-out erupted when Russell headed straight for the team hotel bar after flying into Edinburgh on Sunday night, with the Dark Blues talisman then ignoring requests from team-mates and backroom staff to stop drinking.
The 27-year-old has now returned to Paris with his international future hanging by a thread.
Former British and Irish Lions prop Peter Wright has warned Russell he will need to make the first move if he wants to mend his relationship with Townsend.
Continue reading below…
“I would hope that they can get this patched up soon”, Wright, capped 21 times by Scotland, told the PA news agency.
“Who makes the first move, though? I’d suggest it’s probably down to Finn if he is the one who has left. But if the Scottish management see him as being that important do they try to step in and sort it out?
“It’s a real sticky situation – but I think it’s easier for Finn to come back and be the humble guy.
“I think it’s really in his court now. He has to make a decision about what has he done, has he lost the plot a wee bit, is it time to extend an olive branch to Gregor? Or will he decide he’s just not going to play for Scotland under Gregor?
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7qeTpYgIQY/
“If Scotland do well this year without him, that could end up being a long time.
“These are all big questions but I think the ball is firmly in Finn’s court.”
Since news of the fall-out broke, Russell has ‘liked’ a number of social media posts, including a tweet which says there is “nothing wrong with standing up for yourself”.
The job of building bridges between the former Glasgow star and his old Warriors boss Townsend could fall to new skipper Stuart Hogg.
However, Wright said: “If you had Greig Laidlaw or John Barclay as captain, it might have been easier to do that
There have been some developments in the Finn Russell sagahttps://t.co/u0LIIWJE2r
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 23, 2020
“This situation just heaps more pressure on Hogg. Is he the man to broker a peace deal?
“Or do you go out with the camp and bring in Mark Dodson or perhaps a respected rugby figure like John Jeffrey?
“Or do they sit down like two adults, get their grievances out on the table and get it fixed?
“I’d like to think they are both mature enough to do that. “But I really believe that there is no player bigger than the team and from that point of view Russell is probably the one who has to back down a little bit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7om7AdgPcI/
“But if neither can back down then for this Six Nations there can only be one winner – and that’s Gregor.
“The SRU can’t be seen not to back their head coach. Otherwise his position is untenable because he has no authority left in the eyes of the squad.
“If Finn has broken the protocol, then it’s very difficult for Gregor, no matter who the player is, not to take action.”
The news will come as a major blow to Scotland fans as they look for improvement following a disappointing World Cup campaign, which started with a 27-3 defeat by Ireland and ended in elimination before the knockout stages.
And Wright admits is he already fearing the worst ahead of the Championships.
They ain't happy with the Scottish Rugby Union https://t.co/nRne4O6QUi
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 23, 2020
He said: “Ireland will now be in camp thinking, ‘outstanding. Their main threat is not playing. Whoever replaces him is not as good’.
“For Scotland, Finn is a guy who gives his team-mates a massive lift just by having his name on the team-sheet. There will be guys now whose heads will be going down a wee bit.
“Can they still beat Ireland? Yeah if we’re being optimistic and positive. “But I just think this is deflating as hell because I can’t think of another player in the last 25 years who has been as influential as Finn, even going back through the glory years, the Grand Slams of ’84 and ’90.
“I think he’s the most influential player we’ve ever had and going to Dublin without him is such a knock to our self-belief.”
– PressAssociation
England coach Eddie Jones says he wants the team to be “the greatest team the rugby world has ever seen” following his announcement of the team’s Six Nations squad:
Comments on RugbyPass
ADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
6 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
6 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
6 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
1 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to comments