Six Nations: Townsend hits back at Finn Russell claims
● Scotland coach tells Finn Russell there will be ‘no compromises’
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has told Finn Russell there will be no exceptions or compromises after the stand-off expressed frustrations over the international set-up in a soul-bearing Sunday newspaper interview.
The exiled star stand-off rocked Scottish rugby at the weekend as he exposed just how broken his relationship with Townsend had become, following his banishment from the national squad in the wake of an alcohol-related breach of team protocol a fortnight before the start of the Guinness Six Nations.
Racing 92 playmaker Russell, who has 49 Scotland caps, has missed the first two games of the championship and broke his silence on Sunday, calling for “big changes” to the way the squad was run.
In a statement released by the SRU yesterday, Townsend, pictured, did not close the door on the player but his words suggested that there is no place for Russell in the national squad as things stand.
The statement read: “We have players who come from around a dozen different clubs and it’s really important they commit to an agreed standard of behaviour, which builds trust and is at the bedrock of a highperformance environment. These standards don’t change for one player, even if that’s not what they experience in their club setting.”
Russell left the team hotel on the evening of Sunday 26 January and didn’t show for training and meetings the next day. On returning to the camp on the Monday evening, he was told by Townsend he wouldn’t be considered for that match and was told the same again the day after the opening defeat in Ireland.
“Eight years I’ve had him as a coach, and I don’t really know him at all,” Russell told the Sunday Times. The stand-off played under Townsend at Glasgow Warriors before his big-money move to Parisbased French giants Racing 92 in the summer of 2018. Townsend took over as Scotland coach in June 2017. “We’ve not got a personal relationship,” added Russell.
Townsend responded yesterday: “Following a newspaper article at the weekend I want to take the opportunity to address a few issues regarding Finn’s involvement with the squad.
“We strive to create an environment for players to be at their absolute best when playing for Scotland. To do that players must be aligned to the high standards of being involved in team sport at an elite level.
“These standards are set out through feedback from players and staff and are driven by the player leadership group or the head coach at varying times during a campaign.
“We have players who come from around a dozen different clubs and it’s really important they commit to
an agreed standard of behaviour, which builds trust and is at the bedrock of a highperformance environment.
“I’ve loved working with Finn over the past seven years. In that time, I’ve coached him at Glasgow Warriors and with Scotland. He was one of my first signing sin the academy at Glasgow. I had watched him train and play the previous season and thought there was a player of real potential.
“That season, training in our academy and playing for Ayr, we felt he had earned the opportunity to be part of the exclusive Macphail scholarship programme in New Zealand. That experience proved to be invaluable and he really kicked on the following season, making his mark for the Warriors then for Scotland.
“He’s been brilliant to coach at club and international level. He’s very coachable and I’ve worked with him in a very similar way throughout those seven years.
“Finn left camp on the Sunday night [26 January] because of a disagreement over alcohol with fellow players and chose to miss the following day’s training and meetings. I arranged to meet with him that evening. It was a really positive meeting where we talked openly about life, rugby and what it means to play for Scotland.
“I left that meeting, after almost three hours, really optimistic that Finn would play a major part in our environment and be a committed team member. Unfortunately, things have not unfolded as well as we would have hoped.
“To play for Scotland takes total commitment. People make great sacrifices to be among a special group who have had the honour of representing their nation.”