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The Dylan Hartley verdict on the Finn Russell danger for England
Former England skipper Dylan Hartley has shared his thoughts on the danger Scotland No10 Finn Russell poses. The retired hooker’s old team head to Edinburgh on Saturday looking to extend their winning streak in the 2024 Guinness Six Nations to three February games.
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Both countries will name their respective XVs on Thursday and ahead of the team announcements, Hartley told Gambling Zone what Russell may do to derail England’s title hopes as they are still adjusting to a new-style defence under assistant Felix Jones. “It’s a difficult task going to Scotland; it’s not what it used to be – they are a different animal,” he began.
“There is a genuine belief in this Scotland team. Finn Russell is an inspiration with how he plays and his whole demeanour and attitude lifts those around him. The attitude he has towards the game is infectious and he is the sort of player that the Six Nations needs.
“We have seen England with their rush defence, with a whole new level of line speed. Finn is one of these players that can manipulate depth and he can even take the ball really flat and encourage the England defence onto him.
“Equally, he can goad the defence to come on to him quite deep and if you look at guys shooting out the line for England, putting pressure on fly-halves, Finn can put the ball inside, outside, on his foot and he can exploit that.
“It will come down to who cracks first. Do England put his skills under pressure, or does he exploit England’s line speed? It’s going to be interesting,” reckoned Hartley, who added that he wants to see the fit-again Manu Tuilagi named to start in Steve Borthwick’s midfield.
“Manu is back in training. Fraser Dingwall and Manu Tuilagi are two completely different athletes. From what we saw from Steve Borthwick at the Rugby World Cup, he picks a team. He doesn’t have his XV – he didn’t at the World Cup, and he changes the team to suit the opposition.
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“He will pick a team to exploit Scotland and I can see a bit of Manu coming down Finn Russell’s channel. That’s no slight on Fraser Dingwall, who has done fantastically for England. Borthwick could use Manu at 13, but you have got Manu in the team. I would expect him to be in the mix somewhere.”
Not since the pandemic-affected 2020 championship have England won the Six Nations. Does Hartley believe 2024 success is possible? “If England beat Scotland, then they are contenders. England are quietly going about their business. It’s like England in the World Cup – nobody expected them to do anything at the tournament.
“They quietly go about their business and appear where they need to at the right time. If England get past Scotland, then they will be playing Ireland. Anything can happen at the Six Nations and any team can lose one game and still come out on top at this tournament.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
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