6N: France v Scotland: reflective Finn Russell says visitors have a point to prove

Yesterday at 06:00 PM

AS it stands (on Friday night/Saturday morning), Scotland can theoretically still win the Six Nations, although in all likelihood that tiny – miniscule – chance of ending the quarter of a century wait for a championship title will have evaporated by 5pm on Saturday evening, by which time we all assume that Ireland will have stretched out of Scottish reach by securing a bonus-point win over Italy in Rome. 

So, in reality, the plot-line at Stade de France will be all about France maintaining the razor sharp form they have produced since that round two mishap against England to secure the win they need to leap-frog ahead of Ireland and England (if they beat Wales in Cardiff) once more to claim the title.

But visiting co-captain Finn Russell insists that this match is anything but a dead-rubber as far as he and his team are concerned, and as the sun sets on the 32-year-old’s 11th Six Nations campaign, he is acutely aware that every single game counts in terms of securing his own legacy.

6N: France v Scotland: six talking points from Gregor Townsend's team selection

6N: France v Scotland: two changes to visiting XV as Jack Dempsey drops out squad

6N: France v Scotland: Gaël Fickou returns as hosts stick with seven-one bench split

“There’s definitely a point to prove,” said Russell, when he spoke to the press after the Scotland kickers spent half an hour acclimatising themselves with the Stade de France pitch and surroundings this [Friday] morning. “In the first half last week [against Wales] we did play well, so this week it’s more [about] let’s prove that we can actually play for 80 minutes, that we can keep mentally there for the whole game and not have a five minutes or ten minutes [drop-off] against the French, who are, I’d say, probably the most dangerous if you have that. They’ve got players who can score in a split second.

“I think for us as a group, we have a point to prove to each other to show that we’re there and that we’re moving forward in every game.”

Asked about how many Six Nations campaigns he thinks he has left, Russell responded with his usual chirpy optimism, but there was a reflectiveness evident as well which suggests a regret that another tournament which promised much has come to so little [probably a fourth place finish].

“I don’t know, maybe about four or five [tournaments left],” he quipped. “I’ve not started thinking about it yet, but the more people ask me about it, the more I start thinking about it! At this level, I’m lucky to have done it enough for a long time now, but you never know how many you’re  going to have.

“So it’s always kind of that looking back: if I’d have done this [then] that could have been the tournament, that could have been the one. Last year, had we beaten France at home, and Italy, could that have been the tournament?

“This time, if we’d have got the kick [against England], would this have been the tournament? There’s always going to be that. I wouldn’t say you can look back on it too much, you just have to move on and get on to the next thing.”

A full-house at one of world rugby’s great cathedrals is the sort of stage Russell adores, and the environment where he has often produced his best work. The fact that it is his first time back facing France in France since his happy five years playing club rugby in Paris came to an end will surely add to the sense of occasion, and he promises that any feelings of exhaustion at the end of a gruelling campaign will be pushed to one side when he strolls with his trademark nonchalance onto the Stade de France turf ahead of tomorrow [Saturday] night’s 9pm kick.

“It’s a long tournament … seven weeks … yeah, it’s long, but I think every game is always an exciting occasion, obviously,” Russell smiled. “When it comes to the last game, we are lucky to be playing over here in France. I know it’s nine o’clock tomorrow night, which seems quite late, but it’s not actually that bad when you think about it’s only eight o’clock back home.

“I know the French love a nine o’clock game, so it should be a brilliant occasion here, and that will be enough for us to get up for it.

“We’ve still got a lot to play for. Not to win the tournament, I suppose, but I think for us as a group, we’ve got to show our character and show how we can bounce back from a good win last weekend, but a poor last 30. So I think we’ve got a lot to prove this weekend.

“If we’d have won that England game, it would have been a very different outlook on the tournament. We’d have been here for a straight shootout with France for who wins the tournament, and I think everyone would have viewed it as a positive tournament, whereas that one loss could have very easily gone the other way.  So that kind of shapes how the tournament’s been viewed, I suppose.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating having that loss and potentially not having the 80-minute performances that we’ve needed, but we’ve still got a chance on Saturday to fix all that and try and have an 80-minute performance against one of the best teams in the world.

“I think France definitely have everything. I think they’ve got amazing backs, which have such attacking flair. Their forwards are so physical and big, which will be a challenge tomorrow, especially with their seven-one split on the bench.

“But then I think if you look at their game against England, they missed chances. They kind of let England off the hook. Hopefully, it’s a good game on Saturday. I think both teams like to throw the ball around a little bit. I would say there’s more on the line for them.

“We’ll be underdogs, obviously, coming into this game, I think France will be heavy favourites. I think if we manage to get a win, that would probably look back as a decent enough tournament, but it’s still really frustrating knowing that we probably should have beaten England.

“I think the way that we’ve played has been good, but it’s just managing to get that result and have those 80-minute performances, which hasn’t been good enough.

“It’s kind of a tough one to say if we have to win tomorrow night. Obviously, winning would be ideal, but I wouldn’t say we’re looking at that just yet … that we have to win to then make it a positive tournament. I think we’ll just see how the game goes then we’ll look back and reassess the whole tournament rather than just one off results.

“Results-wise, if we went two wins again, that wouldn’t be good enough, I wouldn’t say. But, yes, we’ll see how Saturday night goes. Hopefully that’s different.”

Scotland have, of course, recent experience of winning against France in Paris, having sabotaged Les Bleus’ Six Nations coronation in 2021, and although Russell picked up a harsh red-card with 10 minutes to go when his elbow made contact with Brice Dulin throat, he played a vital role in that famous victory during his 70 minutes on the park.

“I think it’s brilliant still having that experience in the team,'” said Russell. “However, that was during Covid, so it was very different playing here with no fans than it is when you’ve got 80,000 here. But I think in terms of the belief that we have, it’s definitely there.

“We ran France really close at home last year and potentially should have won that game as well. I think we definitely have a belief going into this game, [even if] they’re off the back of a massive win against Ireland.

“They’ve got the title on the line. So I think we’re here to play as well as we can and not overthink the result. Let’s just play as well as we can and adapt to the situation as the game unfolds.”

Asked about France’s seven-one split between forwards and backs on the bench, Russell replied: “I wouldn’t say we have to prepare differently. It’s probably more the mindset, mainly for the forwards. We played against South Africa and then against France. They’ve got one of the best forward packs in the game. I’d say they match South Africa – they’ve got size, they’ve got speed and they’ve got skill.

“I think they’ve got players that can play on the wing if they had to, like back-rowers that can play on the wing. I think it's risky, if you get a scrum-half or a 10 or a winger that goes down early on, how do you then cover that?

“At Bath, we’ve done it before against Northampton. We had a back-row and a wing go down in the first 20 minutes and then it’s tough to chase from there to get things right. So, it is risky, but I think they’re going obviously for the power-game tomorrow night.

“I’d imagine they’ll be backing their forwards to get a go-forward ball and then let the backs out. I wouldn’t say it gives away their strategy, but it makes it a little bit more obvious what they’re going to try and do in the game.

“We need to prepare mentally for that and try to control the game as much as we can, whether that’s playing at a high tempo, trying to run the forwards around, or it might actually be kicking it a bit more to try and save our forwards. There’s different things that we can do in the game to try and adjust for the seven-one split.”

6N: France v Scotland: six talking points from Gregor Townsend’s team selection

The post 6N: France v Scotland: reflective Finn Russell says visitors have a point to prove appeared first on Scottish Rugby News from The Offside Line.