Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel has dismissed any notion of a Calcutta Cup hangover for Finn Russell, backing the talismanic stand-off to lead a strong response in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations match against Wales.
The Bath fly-half missed all three of his conversions, including a last-minute kick that would have edged his team in front, as the Scots went down to an agonising 16-15 defeat to England at the Allianz Stadium in their last outing.
Scotland have returned to their camp in Edinburgh, following a fallow week, to prepare for this weekend’s visit of Wales, and Dalziel insisted there is no chance of Russell being burdened by memories of his Twickenham frustration.
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Asked on Tuesday how he expected the 32-year-old co-captain to react, Dalziel said: “Like he always does. He doesn’t wear much on his shoulders. It’s probably a huge strength that he has that he can wipe things really quickly. He gets a smile back on his face and he gets that buzz around the team again.
“After every game, every player gets a review and a chat with the coaches. Test matches in rugby for everyone, in terms of pressure that players have on them are huge. Finn, as everybody, will go through his review, he will go through the process of the week and he will look at ways of being at his best the following week again.”
Scotland
Wales
Dalziel confirmed that wing Darcy Graham, who missed the England game due to a concussion sustained against Ireland, is back in contention for Saturday. “Darcy has returned to full fitness today so he is available for selection,” he said.
Scotland supporters were aggrieved at some of the key decisions in the game that went against their team, including the award of Tommy Freeman’s try when there was no conclusive footage of it being grounded, the award of the penalty that allowed England to go 16-10 ahead, and the fact Russell was asked to kick his late conversion from two metres wider than where Duhan van der Merwe grounded his try.
Dalziel – the first member of the Scotland camp to speak since Calcutta Cup day – insisted the Scots were of no mind to make a big deal of the officiating. “It’s a tough situation for the referee,” he said. “We have just followed the process as normal in terms of feedback (with the governing body), so we have been through that.
“But the big thing for us is we just want to concentrate on the opportunities we had and to take the referee out of the equation in the game. That is the only way we can move forward. We had more than enough opportunities so we need to focus on what we can do better.”
Wales head to Murrayfield on the back of a 15-game losing streak and Dalziel challenged Scotland to make life “uncomfortable” for their beleaguered visitors.
“We have got to try and find areas where we can go and pressure them and try and put them into uncomfortable positions and hopefully bring the demons back that have been there in the games prior,” he said.
“That is what we are looking for. Like every match, we are going to look at the opposition and where we can get some sort of advantage.”
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