"Fingers crossed" – Will Stuart: England prop stunned as Bath teammate Finn Russell missed Scotland's crucial conversion

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England prop Will Stuart endured a unique experience this past weekend, as he willed Finn Russell to miss his kicks at the Allianz Stadium. Usually, Stuart would be backing his Bath teammate to nail every shot at goal, but the tight-head prop found himself crossing his fingers, in the hopes that Russell would send the match-winning conversion wide of the mark.

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Stuart’s wish was granted, upon a dramatic end to the Calcutta Cup clash, as Russell slammed the ball into the post, with the missed conversion costing Scotland the win. The self professed ‘Lionel Messi of Rugby’ failed to showcase his footballing skills, and could not capitalise upon Duhan van der Merwe’s 79th minute try. It was a roller-coaster of emotions for everyone inside the Allianz, with Stuart sharing what was going through his mind, as Russell stepped up to take the decisive shot at goal.

“Obviously it was conflicting between, 'God, I really hope he misses this' but I said that afterwards, 'I did have my fingers crossed, I'm sorry mate'. A hundred times out of a hundred, there's no part of me that wants you to miss (for Bath).

“He hit the post, a lot closer (than other kicks at goal), but I was worried. For Scotland, he hits everything. At Bath he had a bit of a sketchy patch, but then he went away for the 2024 Six Nations and he was a 100%, no one at Bath could believe it. But I couldn't watch it really, I was head in hands.”

England’s victory in the third round of the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations, sees Steve Borthwick’s side win the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 2020. The four year run of Scottish dominance in the fixture has come to an end, with Stuart delighted to have the fabled piece of Anglo-Celtic silverware back in the Twickenham trophy cabinet. Stuart expressed how this victory has all the more meaning, with his family finally seeing Stuart in victorious action against Scotland, half a decade after the initial attempt.

“The last one we won in 2020, that was my first Six Nations and that was the storm. My mum and girlfriend were not happy, they came up, I didn't come off the bench and then we (England team) got on a plane, but they were stuck in Edinburgh because of the storm. They have refused to go back up since!

“That was the last time we won. A few of the games I have played in have been really frustrating. I am trying to think, the Covid one in the retro shirts. Games like that, where I came off and felt like we threw (it away), not to discredit Scotland, but I don't know this has ended up like this. The last couple of years, I have felt we have really not been at the races, and they have put us to the sword. We haven't been in those games. That's even more frustrating.”

The latest installment of the Calcutta Cup has had plenty of question marks, with speculation of a review after some uncustomary decisions. To begin with, Tommy Freeman’s try had no clear grounding, yet the referee decided to award the try without consulting the TMO or any of his assistant match officials. After the match, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend expressed how he heard his fellow coaches disagree with the try, in what has steeped the score in controversy.

Stuart gave his perspective on the match, as England were finally able to get on the right side of the score-line against their Scottish counterparts. Stuart expressed how his side deserved the 16-15 victory, having battled through a recent run of loses to New Zealand, Australia South Africa and Ireland.

“I think when you've come so close over a few games, to have the ball bounce right for you a couple of times, it gets to the point where you're doing things right and feel that you deserve a couple of them.”

“Scotland played very differently to how we expected.” The prop explained. “A lot more contestable (kicks) so it took us probably 15 minutes too long to figure out how to combat that, because it was more of a contestable game, territory, a bit of a cycle. We needed to figure that out and adapt a little bit quicker, but under those circumstances where you spend a week prepping for something and scrapping to be in it at half-time. Then we come in (to the changing rooms) and the message is changed, it was good.”

After a run of six consecutive defeats to tier one nations, England are now two wins on the bounce against the top teams in World Rugby. Stuart echoed the comments of what Ben Earl had said in the opening round Six Nations defeat to Ireland, in how England had been waiting for the ‘dam to break’. The floodgates seem to be open to reap the rewards of success, with a third win on the trot expected against Italy in a fortnight’s time.

“For me winning and losing is very habitual. You lose a few games in a row and then you kind of just evolve from that and getting out of that rut and winning. Even in tightening situations, to win that is a massive moral boost. You get a huge boost from it.

“When we were losing really tight games, you could feel the growth of the team. That was exactly the same scenario I felt at the end of last year. I could feel massive growth, I could feel like we were being competitive. We just needed the dam to break at some point.”

“If you want to win big Test matches against the best in the world, you need to improve non stop and they're going to have tactical changes. The quicker we can do that the better, it maybe took us a couple of minutes too long but we did get there in the end. In a game like that it is all about just staying in it and doing your job as well as possible without switching off.”

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QUIZ: Can You Name EVERY Player in England’s 2016 Six Nations Grand Slam Squad?

England last won the Six Nations Grand Slam back in 2016, in what was Eddie Jones’ first Championship in charge. Taking over from Stuart Lancaster, Jones appointed a new captain to his side, in what was the start of a record equalising 18-test match winning streak.

Jones named a 33-man squad for the 2016 Six Nations, and we’ve laid out the challenge for you to name each and every one of the players. Due to the extra toughness of this one, we’ve given a slightly longer time limit for you to rattle off the answers.

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The post “Fingers crossed” – Will Stuart: England prop stunned as Bath teammate Finn Russell missed Scotland’s crucial conversion appeared first on Ruck.

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