Russell reckons bond with Townsend will be stronger
EXILED Scotland stand-off Finn Russell says he believes that his fractured relationship with head coach Gregor Townsend can be rebuilt stronger than ever.
The 27-year-old playmaker walked out of the team hotel a fortnight before the Six Nations kicked off, and a very public spat ensued in which both Russell and Townsend gave inflammatory interviews to the press, before the tension seemed to subside during the lead-up to Scotland’s surprise win over France in round four of the championship.
At that stage it was agreed that Russell would play no part in the remainder of the tournament, but he did help the team by giving some insights into the French squad gleaned from his season and a half playing for Racing 92.
“I think there will be a lot of discussions and catch-ups to fix it, which will be good,” said Russell in a video-call interview with former Scotland team-mate Jim Hamilton for RugbyPass website. “In the long-run, it will be good for us as well, not just in the shortterm to try and just fix things and patch it over. I think going forward for myself, Gregor and the team, it will be good that we can actually have a better relationship with each other and we can actually properly work forward.
Asked if it was his responsibility to make amends for the fall-out, Russell replied: “I think it’s got to be both. The way it has all come out is what it is, but I think me and Gregor actually now have a better understanding of each other having called each other during the Six Nations, and I think now he has a better understanding of where I’m coming from.
“In the fallow week before the France game I called Gregor and said that I didn’t know if I was going to get called back in or not, but I think for everyone it is best that we just leave it for now and start again after the Six Nations, and move forward from there.
“I’d been back here [in Paris] – back and forward – and there had been a lot of talking and I think it was better for me to just make a decision to stop it before the last two games and let the boys go ahead and focus on the game without any of the journalists chatting about it again. And then I said to Gregor that we can start working on this again after the Six Nations.
“It was good, it was fine. I think just now, with nothing on, I will give him a call at some point, have a chat and try to move things on.
“We were speaking about fixing things before the summer tour, which would be good, obviously, but I don’t know if that will go ahead now or not. Still, for me, I want to fix things, and we’ll work it out in a few months I think.”
Russell said that he had no regrets about the explosive interview he gave to the The Sunday Times on the Sunday after Scotland’s round two loss to England.
“I kept quiet and didn’t want to put anything out there [but] then I felt after a time that I had to say my side, how I was feeling,” he explained. “I was getting kind of frustrated – not annoyed but frustrated – seeing everything that was coming out about me in the media. Everything you get nowadays on social media and everything else. And I was like: ‘this isn’t actually what the story is, I need to say my side and what is happening here.’
“It was me sticking up for myself saying, saying that’s just one side of the story and this is my side of the story. I suppose there is always two side to a story, so I had to say mine and I don’t regret it at all. It was just something I had to do in the context of it all.”
It has been stated by some media outlets that Russell has alienated himself from some of his team-mates, but the player indicated that his relationship with team captain Stuart Hogg will withstand any friction caused by this fall-out, and is clearly hopeful that everyone involved will be able to let bygones be bygones.
“I have a good relationship with Hoggy as well,” he said. “It was fine. Before the article came out I spoke to him and Ali [Price]. I said that there is an article coming out tomorrow which is my side of the way things are going. So, I gave them a heads-up before it.
“It is different me being outside looking into it, but it is fine. It will be alright.”
With Scotland’s summer tour to South Africa and New Zealand now looking unlikely to go ahead, it could end up being the case that the postponed final Six Nations match against Wales [expected to be at the end of October] is the pivotal moment when we discover if Russell has a Scotland future whilst Townsend is head coach.
“I don’t know, it will be interesting to see how the next few months go,” said Russell. “Who knows if I will play a part in the Six Nations this year? You never know!”