Scotland fans fear Six Nations dream is over after Finn Russell’s latest display
Gregor Townsend must hate the fallow weeks in the Six Nations more than any other coach as it sees him lose some of his best players for a week as they return to their clubs outside of Scotland. Most of them play, which only makes them an injury risk.
That was the case for fly-half Finn Russell, who started and played the full match for Racing 92 against Top 14 leaders Toulouse on Sunday night at La Defense Arena. As Townsend would have feared, there was cause for concern in Paris.
Russell’s performance was not too bad- his side did lose 39-35 and he did miss a few kicks, but it was not disastrous. What will be an area of concern for fans though was the fact that Russell’s left leg was heavily bandaged throughout the match.
This was obviously a problem that he came into the match with, so could have picked it up while with Scotland, but one thing is for certain- Townsend would have desperately wanted his fly-half to have had a rest this week ahead of such a crucial game.
Six Nations leaders Ireland travel to Murrayfield to take on second place Scotland this Saturday, and the fitness of Russell will be one of, if not the main factor, in determining whether Scotland can come away with the victory or not. The fly-half has had a stellar Championship so far, so this apparent knee injury will be worrying for Scotland fans.
A win for Scotland would put them in the hunt for their first ever Six Nations title. A mightily impressive bonus point win at Murrayfield, while simultaneously preventing Ireland from picking up any bonus points, would actually put Scotland at the top of the table heading into round five. But a win would leave them just below Ireland, with Italy visiting Edinburgh in round five, while Ireland host England.
Take a look at Russell’s leg:
