Finn Russell’s moment of genius immediately outdone by rival Blair Kinghorn
Finn Russell had quite a legendary game for Racing 92 at the weekend against Bordeaux-Begles, or 33 minutes specifically.
The Scotland No10 started on the bench at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Saturday and entered the fray shortly after half time with his side trailing 19-3. But in no time at all he had his side firing, creating a try within seconds of coming on. He was making another try five minutes later, this time with a genius piece of quick thinking. The Scot’s quick tap caught the Bordeaux-Begles defence napping, and one pass and one ruck later Anthime Hemery was scoring. This was all on the way to Racing recording a memorable 31-28 victory at the death.
Russell’s exploits must have echoed rapidly across Europe on Saturday, as later that day his Scotland No10 rival Blair Kinghorn was producing a similar piece of quick thinking against the Ospreys at the DAM Health Stadium.
Having shaped up to kick a penalty to touch, the 26-year-old spotted space out wide and opted to tap instead. One long pass to Emiliano Boffelli put the fullback in space alongside Darcy Graham. One chip over the final Ospreys defenders put Graham in for his second try of the match.
These were both pieces of high level intuition from the fly-halves, albeit in different circumstances. Russell was chasing the game when he pulled off his move, while Kinghorn had the luxury of a 40-14 lead when he decided to chip himself. Nevertheless, both great pieces of play from the Scotland No10s.
Take a look at Russell:
Take a look at Kinghorn later that day:
🗣️ "A Darcy double!"@EdinburghRugby's Darcy Graham scores his second try of the game 🏉✌️#URC | #EDIvOSP pic.twitter.com/8fZssYt7cx
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) April 15, 2023
