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Rounds at Gleneagles key to co-captain switching off from Twickenham disappointment
Finn Russell is not one to dwell on disappointment but the Scotland co-captain admitted the loss to England at Twickenham affected him.
The gut-wrenching nature of the defeat – Russell missed a conversion to win the match in the final minute – was bound to have an impact and the Bath stand-off has revealed that he sought solace on the golf course.
Russell switched off from rugby for a full week and managed to play two rounds at Gleneagles which he hopes will be the perfect restorative as he prepares to return to action on Saturday against Wales at Murrayfield.
Finn Russell (left) and Blair Kinghorn during Scotland’s team run at Scottish Gas Murrayfield before the Wales game. | PA
Golf, he says, gets him “back in the groove” and he believes it can also help with his goalkicking which went uncharacteristically awry at Twickenham.
“I played with [ex-team-mate] Ryan Wilson on the Wednesday and there’s probably more chat going on there than golf. I played on the Thursday with my dad and one of my good mates and that was probably a better round of golf.
“There’s a lot of similarities between golf and goalkicking I find. I try these shots that I probably can’t hit but I like going for them and thinking I can. But it’s good to get away. You get a few hours on the course and I can chat with my dad in a different way. It’s not just about rugby. It’s good fun. It’s good exercise as well. It’s active recovery, we’ll say.”
Russell, who missed with all three conversion attempts at Twickenham as England won 16-15, admitted that having a complete break before preparing to take on Wales had helped him cope with the personal disappointment of the Calcutta Cup.
“I sent all my boots and kit and everything back up to Scotland after the England game. I had Sunday and Monday in Bath and then flew up Tuesday. I golfed Wednesday and Thursday, I had time with the family on Friday and then the weekend. It was a very relaxed week for me and getting away from it is good.
Scotland’s Finn Russell looks on after missing a conversion against England. | PA
“Had I gone from the England game straight into the Wales game the week after, it’s potentially in the back of your mind – you’re trying to fix it too soon. You’re then trying all these different technical things to make a difference. Having a week away from it and forgetting about it all allows me to come back in this week with a clear mind.
“After that kick, just throughout the day, I’ll think about ‘if only I did this differently or that differently’. There’s all these ifs and buts that you think of after the game. When you’re on the golf course, you don’t have time to think about that.”
Russell’s laidback reputation is well earned and helps make him the player he is and while he says he is “good at letting things go” he wouldn’t be human if wasn’t affected by the last-gasp miss at Twickenham.
“It’s something that does take a while,” he said. “That’s just sport. Everyone’s different in how they analyse it themselves. I’m lucky I’ve got a great family and great friends that help me with that. They have a laugh with me, take my mind off it.”
Russell, who has landed just three from eight conversions in this Six Nations, believes he has now rediscovered his mojo when it comes to goalkicking. Gregor Townsend gave him a vote of confidence by insisting that he would remain Scotland’s kicker and the player admitted it was good to have the coach’s backing.
Scotland’s Finn Russell during a press conference after the team run at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. | PA
“It’s brilliant for me,” he said. “There are obviously good kickers on the team. There’s Tom Jordan, there’s Blair [Kinghorn], George Horne. It’s nice having the coach’s backing.
“I think for the whole tournament I’ve not really been kicking that well. I didn’t get one against Ireland, but I missed a couple against Italy. I’m not saying I’m going to get them all on Saturday, but I found my groove again the last couple of days, which has been nice.
“As a goal kicker it can be tough mentally when you’re doing an hour of practice after each session. You’re not far off being good, but something’s missing. I find sometimes you start overthinking it. I start overthinking the technique and trying to change small bits here and there that I feel are going wrong.”
One of the changes Russell tried was kicking without a tee.
“Before the game against England, when I was putting the ball on the grass and kicking it, I got five out of five, for a bit of fun almost. Then on the tee I was struggling, so I thought let’s just kick it as if it’s off the deck. That’s what clicked for me this week.”
Scotland are odds-on favourites to beat Wales who come north on the back of a run of 15 successive Test match defeats. Russell thinks it will be a lot tougher than the bookmakers are forecasting and feels the Welsh are much improved under interim coach Matt Sherratt. Sherratt replaced Warren Gatland and there was an immediate uplift as they ran Ireland close a fortnight ago before eventually losing in Cardiff.
“This week we’ve spoken about how good Wales are going to be. I think there’s this perception of them before the tournament, and they’ve turned the corner with the new coach coming in and the players they’ve brought into that squad.
Wales’ interim head coach Matt Sherratt, right. | PA
“Looking at the Ireland game, they had quite a few chances in that first half and they ran them really close right to the end of the game.
“I think looking at that game and the squad that they’ve got now, it’s going to be really tough.
“The perception might be that we’re going in as favourites but I think we’re going to have to play at our best if we’re going to win this game.”
Scotland: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Tom Jordan, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry, Zander Fagerson, Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey. Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Will Hurd, Gregor Brown, Matt Fagerson, George Horne, Stafford McDowall, Kyle Rowe.
Wales: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Max Llewellyn, Ben Thomas, Ellis Mee; Gareth Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Elliot Dee, WillGriff John, Dafydd Jenkins, Will Rowlands, Jac Morgan, Tommy Reffell, Taulupe Faletau. Replacements: Dewi Lake, Gareth Thomas, Keiron Assiratti, Teddy Williams, Aaron Wainwright, Rhodri Williams, Jarrod Evans, Joe Roberts.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR).
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