THE BYES HAVE IT

Russell plotting a Scotland win against England at Twickenham this weekend as perfect send-off for outgoing coach Cotter

FINN RUSSELL insists Scotland’s Six Nations campaign can deliver Vern Cotter a fitting and victorious farewell. The dark blues fly-half is aware the end of days is approaching for the outgoing head coach with a penultimate clash against England providing the chance of claiming the Calcutta Cup and Triple Crown. As the countdown to Twickenham gathers pace, Russell, 24, believes the pressure is on to provide the New Zealander with the perfect send-off before he moves to Montpellier this summer. Russell has been an integral part of Cotter’s three-year spell in charge. The Glasgow Warrior admits he owes the Kiwi a debt of gratitude for allowing him to grow into the national jersey and has targeted a glorious goodbye. He said: “Vern has been great the last three years he has been here and I’ve only known him as a Scotland coach. It has been great the way he has handled this, knowing he’s leaving but still giving his all and looking to be successful, as we all are. “It’s his second last game and it’s a big one so we’ll definitely be going down there to get the win for him and for us as players.

“I wouldn’t say we are dwelling on him leaving. Nobody is acting like that and he’s not either.

“Although we all know Vern is going at the end of this competition, no one is really worrying about that, we’re just focusing on the games we have left.

“Vern is pretty relaxed. Once you get to know him he’s alright. He can be serious at times obviously as everyone is. On the training pitch he’s serious but off it he likes to have a bit of a joke.”

It has been 34 years since Scotland last triumphed in London but Russell played it with a straight bat when asked whether ending that dismal record is the primary motivation when they take to the field at the home of rugby.

He said: “I wouldn’t say we’d use it as motivation because that’s all in the past. It’s looking ahead to what we can do as a team and how we can best prepare for the game at the weekend.

“It has been mentioned a bit but as a team we’re not really focused on that.

“We’ve spoken about it but not really looked at it that much.

“We’re just trying to win the game at the weekend and if that makes history then that’d be great.

“But we’re just looking to do as much as we can this week to get ourselves ready for this match.” England have the added incentive of getting the chance to

draw level with the All Blacks and matching their world record run of 18 consecutive wins if they take Scotland’s scalp on Saturday.

Eddie Jones’s men are unbeaten under his reign but Russell is adamant the motivation for both teams is much more about the chance of silverware than statistics.

He said: “There are a lot of things riding on this game but as a team we’re not looking at all of that.

“We’re just focusing on this game and that’s what we’ve done the whole tournament. That’s why we’ve had good results.

“There is pressure on both teams. It’s always going to be like that when it comes to the last couple of fixtures in this competition.”

It was Cotter who handed Russell his Six Nations debut and the Scotland playmaker insists he has fond memories of Twickenham despite a succession of disappointments at a stadium where he was part of a side edged out of a World Cup quarter-final by Australia.

He said: “I’ve only played England once down there and it was good fun in my first Six Nations.

“The last time was the World Cup quarter-final. It’s a good atmosphere down there, being away from home is always brilliant but we know how tough it will be.”

If there’s an Achilles heel in the England side it could be an inability to adapt quickly to surprise tactics which was exposed by Italy in their last outing when they struggled to cope with the Azzurri refusing to engage in the ruck.

Russell admits Scotland will have a few things up their sleeve this weekend even if they’re not so off the wall as the tactics adopted by the Italians.

He said: “Italy’s game at Twickenham was one of the strangest I’ve watched. It was different with the Italy tactics that caught England out for the first half.

“England took time to adjust to it then in the second half they adapted well and scored a few tries. It was a different game to watch but pretty smart by Italy to try and change it up completely.

“Who knows if we’ll do that on Saturday but probably not. England might use that this weekend. Everyone may be aware of it now.

“There are weaknesses and strengths if you wanted to play like that. In the analysis we’ve done, we know how we’d try to counter that if it was done against us. There might be set times in the game where both teams try it.”

GORDON PARKS

FINN RUSSELL