Townsend issues explosive response to Finn Russell interview
The stand-off between Gregor Townsend and Finn Russell has taken another unexpected twist, with the Scotland head coach issuing a strong response to the Racing out-half’s interview with a Sunday newspaper.
Russell remains absent from the Scotland squad following an alleged drinking session the week before the opening round of Six Nations fixtures.
The player left Scotland’s camp and returned to his club, Racing 92, despite a lengthy meeting with Townsend.
While Townsend had initially said the door remained open for Russell to return before the end of the Six Nations, that outcome appeared increasingly unlikely following an interview Russell gave to The Sunday Times newspaper.
Rassie Erasmus has released another candid video clip of a speech he gave to his Springboks team during the during Rugby World Cup in Japan.https://t.co/sgsKYdOIsv
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 10, 2020
In that interview, Russell said his problems with Townsend would make it difficult for him to return.
“I’d love to play for Scotland again because I love playing for my country,” Russell said.
“But until I see or feel the big changes that I need to get back to playing my best, it’s going to be very hard for me to do it.”
Russell was also highly critical of Scotland’s playing style under Townsend, and added that he felt the team “needs change.”
Now Townsend has responded with his own version of events via a statement on the Scotland Rugby website, and while he doesn’t rule out welcoming Russell back into the fold, it appears the stand-off is likely to continue.
“Following a newspaper article at the weekend I want to take the opportunity to address a few issues regarding Finn’s involvement with the squad,” the statement reads.
READ | Scotland Head Coach Gregor Townsend outlines his position on the absence of stand-off Finn Russell from Scotland camp, and responds to comments made in a national newspaper yesterday.https://t.co/xyTOLm2sDr
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 10, 2020
“We strive to create an environment for players to be at their absolute best when playing for Scotland. To do that players must be aligned to the high standards of being involved in team sport at an elite level.
“These standards are set out through feedback from players and staff and are driven by the player leadership group or the head coach at varying times during a campaign.
“We have players who come from around a dozen different clubs and it’s really important they commit to an agreed standard of behaviour, which builds trust and is at the bedrock of a high-performance environment.
“These standards don’t change for one player, even if that’s not what they experience in their club setting.
“A really pleasing aspect of the last three weeks has been seeing the group commit to this high-performance standard, bond as a group of young men and show consistency and quality on the training field. They’ve been a pleasure to work with.
The bad news just keeps on coming for Scotland supporters.https://t.co/gU3PsNEwMf
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 10, 2020
“Following the World Cup, we reviewed a number of aspects of our environment and how that could lead to improved performances from the national team. This process involved taking lots of feedback from players, coaches, management and external input, on what we need to do better.
“Changes start from what we do as a coaching group and I learned a lot from the experience in Japan to how I can coach the team better. How we run our week’s training to unlock the full potential in the squad is what drives us as coaches.
“We believe we are in a much better place following the tournament and review. We clearly didn’t perform on the field as well as we had planned and, off the field, felt certain standards of behaviour had slipped at times.
“Our team leaders made the decision there would be no drinking after our opening match of the Six Nations and they have been working closely with me on improving other aspects of our environment.
“I’ve loved working with Finn over the past seven years. In that time, I’ve coached him at Glasgow Warriors and with Scotland. He was one of my first signings in the academy at Glasgow. I had watched him train and play the previous season and thought there was a player of real potential.
After a positive start to life as Ireland head coach, @rhigarthjones looks at how Andy Farrell has handled the big calls around team selection.https://t.co/JX3QQA4h4D
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 10, 2020
“That season, training in our academy and playing for Ayr, we felt he had earned the opportunity to be part of the exclusive Macphail scholarship programme in New Zealand. That experience proved to be invaluable and he really kicked on the following season, making his mark for the Warriors then for Scotland.
“He’s been brilliant to coach at club and international level. He’s very coachable and I’ve worked with him in a very similar way throughout those seven years.
“Finn left camp on the Sunday night because of a disagreement over alcohol with fellow players and chose to miss the following day’s (Monday) training and meetings. I arranged to meet with him that evening. It was a really positive meeting where we talked openly about life, rugby and what it means to play for Scotland.
“I left that meeting, after almost three hours, really optimistic that Finn would play a major part in our environment and be a committed team member. Unfortunately, things have not unfolded as well as we would have hoped.
“To play for Scotland takes total commitment. A lot of people make great sacrifices for the opportunity to represent 150 years of history and be among a special group of people who have had the honour of representing their nation.
And at sea-level too! https://t.co/teZHVaqTJJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 10, 2020
“A lot of times, everything is not always how you’d like it to be. You might not agree with everything that is there, maybe because it’s a different coach than the one you have at club level or a different way of preparing or playing. What is important is that you commit to the what has been agreed and put the best interests of the team first.
“In the Six Nations and this season we are playing teams in the top five or six in the world and the effort, planning and standards that go into preparing people physically and mentally are really important, as are the bonds that bring people together and the trust that must be created within the group.
“The door will be open to any player with the required level of ability – if they commit to being a trusted member of the team. It’s been made clear that Finn could be a part of that future. However, he stated at the weekend that everything else has to change for him to come back, rather than accept and adhere to the standards currently being lived by the group.
“I hope this situation can be resolved but our focus is on working with the squad and building on the positive work that’s gone in from the players for our first two games.”
Watch: Eddie Jones warns against Six Nations expansion.
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.
1 Go to comments