Townsend: Why tough Hastings-Russell selection call swung in favour of re-integrated Finn
Gregor Townsend has admitted it was difficult to leave Adam Hastings out of his Scotland team but he could not ignore Finn Russell’s big-game form and the way he has re-integrated into the set-up. Russell will make his first Guinness Six Nations appearance this year when he starts against Wales on Saturday in Scotland’s final encounter.
The Racing 92 fly-half impressed off the bench as he made his return to the fold during Friday’s 48-7 warm-up win over Georgia, after repairing his relationship with Townsend. Hastings has played every game since Russell left the squad following a disciplinary issue ahead of the February opener against Ireland but has been dropped to the bench for the game at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli.
Exeter pair Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray have also come in – with Duhan van der Merwe and Ben Toolis dropping to the bench – while Scarlets back row forward Blade Thomson replaces the injured Matt Fagerson, who rolled his ankle against Georgia.
Townsend said: “Finn had that extra week’s training and was involved in our squad last week. He is coming back into working with us again in terms of what we do in attack and defence. And you saw with his performance off the bench that he is full of confidence.”
When asked if he had spoken to Hastings about his omission, Townsend said: “I do with any player who has missed out on selection. That’s just the job we have to do. Whether the player takes on board what you say to them or not, that’s up to them, but he has been unlucky in terms of the performances he has had during the Six Nations.
"We have looked at that and being able to reduce the size of the squad is a lot easier compared to Australia or New Zealand" ?https://t.co/NgqAABnqhP
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“But over the last few weeks Finn’s form has been really good for his club on a consistent basis, in some high-level games, and we were certainly satisfied by his performance when he came on at the weekend, and what he has been doing in training.
“It’s competition at that level for the No10 jersey and I’m sure it will continue for the next few years. It’s difficult to leave out someone who has played a big part in the team’s progress during the Six Nations. He [Hastings] has got back into form over the last two or three weeks.
“But on the flip side, you have got someone who can really add something when he comes on, whether it’s at ten or twelve. Just like on the wing, Duhan has been outstanding for Edinburgh over the past couple of seasons, really trained well with us and integrated really well into our team, and he had a really good debut. So that’s good to know we have players of really high quality on our bench.”
Hastings switched to playing inside centre when Russell came on against Georgia, but James Lang of Harlequins continues in that position alongside Chris Harris. “The centres have worked really well in training and I thought they performed their jobs well against Georgia,” Townsend said.
“It was a different sort of Test match when you get three maul tries and are maybe not tested the same way in the backline as we will likely be against Wales this week. But we have real confidence in Chris and James as a partnership.
“They get on really well, they have defended and attacked well in training. We are looking just to see them build on what they have been doing. Chris has been one of our best players for the past couple of seasons and, given the weather forecast, it’s likely that work rate and defence are going to be key factors in a team’s success.
“In terms of other permutations, yes, we debate every position. Adam played half an hour at No12, James had picked up a dead leg, and Sam Johnson was back playing for Glasgow too. So they are in the mix, but we feel James and Chris are the best players for us.”
EPISODE 4 of RUGBYPASS OFFLOAD #RPOffload
Citing commissioners??
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Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments