Scots ‘not caught up in emotion’
◆ Inspired by former South Africa coach Jones, the visitors will arrive at Murrayfield with a new approach but Townsend’s men are ready to react
Finn Russell believes that dialling down the emotion in the Calcutta Cup has helped Scotland maintain the upper hand in the fixture over the last halfdozen years.
The Scots have lost only one of the last six meetings with their ancient rivals and used to celebrate victories with gusto. Russell said they still celebrate their wins over England but take a more professional approach – before and after the game.
While beating England was sometimes seen as defining their season, the stand-off said Scotland’s ambitions now extend beyond getting their hands on the Calcutta Cup.
Scotland are odds-on favourites going into today’s Six Nations match at Murrayfield as they chase a fourth consecutive victory over England for the first time since 1972, and for the first time in the championship since 1896. Russell said his side’s build-up to this weekend’s game had been restrained from an emotional point of view.
“As a team, we have got ourselves to a place where we are professional building up to the game,” said the Scotland cocaptain. “We are not getting toocaughtupinthehistoryand passion and emotion behind it. I think it has changed over the lastfewyearswithresultsgoing more in our favour, whereas before it was always a massive win if we beat England.
“There was probably more emotion through the week and that was something that would have been spoken about, whereas this week we’ve not done much of that. There’s almost been the opposite – trying to take that away this week. In the past if we were able to beat England it was a huge result and we used to celebrate it – a lot.
“Don’t get me wrong, we all still celebrate. But it’s a different way. The team has come on a lot and I think the mentality as a group has come on a lot in the last five, 10 years. There’s a lot of things that are similar, but at the same time there’s probably a more professional take on this game.”
Russell said the Calcutta Cup remained a “massive game” but wouldn’t define Scotland's campaign as they seek their highest ever finish in the Six Nations, with away games against Italy and Ireland still to come.
“Going back to when I first started playing for Scotland, it was one of the biggest games in the calendar, whereas now I think we have got to a great position where they are all kind of similar,” said Russell. “We are not satisfied just by beating one or two teams in this competition. It is still a massive game and everything behind it with the history, but we have to approach it as just another game and another chance to get a victory.
“A win gets us back on track [and] is the most important thing. In the last couple of campaigns we’ve won three of the five games but we’re looking to progress from that and to do that we have to win the next three games which is no easy feat. That’s our goal as a team, to keep progressing year-onyear and after the disappointment against France we need to do our best to beat England and build on that in the last two games.”
We’ve got to a place where we are professional building up to the game
Finn Russell
Not much fazes Finn Russell and as he approaches his ninth Calcutta Cup match, the Scotland co-captain is confident he can navigate a way round England’s new blitz defence at Murrayfield today.
The visitors have borrowed from the South African playbook, recruiting the Springboks’ double World Cup-winning defence consultant Felix Jones to implement their new strategy. jones, a former ireland international, has decamped from Cape Town to Twickenham and become assistant coach to Steve Borthwick.
England are expected to swarm around Russell and his midfield colleagues in an effort to neutralise Scotland, but the stand-off has no issue with the possibility of being singled out because he believes it will create opportunities for others, with Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones and the returning Blair Kinghorn all ready to step up as second receiver.
“I’m not sure what England are going to do – if they are going to fire out the line and try to take me out or shut me down from the outside,” said Russell. “That is something we will have to figure out in the game. We will have to be able to adapt, with myself and Sione and Huw being on the same page and having Blair out wide as another option. Although the 10 controls a lot of the attack, it is not just down to me to create things. We will be looking to other boys to get away from them.”
South Africa effectively nullified Russell and Scotland when the sides met at the World Cup in France in September but the Boks’ blitz defence had been honed over a number of years. Jones has worked with England for only a few weeks and Italy and Wales have already exposed vulnerabilities. They’ve had two weeks to work on it since but Russell knows that rushing up on him will create space in behind or out wide and noone in the game is better than the Scotland 10 at exploiting such opportunities.
“If you get really quick ball on the front foot, it’s easier,” he said. “If you are on the back foot and slightly out of position, it’s tough. A blitz defence can get a lot of rewards on the back of it through mistakes if they catch you behind the gain line. It’s all your eggs in one basket.
“I think South Africa are the best in terms of having the blitz defence and the cover in behind chasing – some of the back row go in behind the scrum and chase across in case of anything so that’s the safety net. If you unlock it you then have the challenge of cover coming across. I’ve not seen enough of the last two England games and teams getting round them and that safety net coming across so hopefully we can get round them or through them on Saturday.”
The South Africa match in Marseille was a sobering experience for the Scots and both Russell and coach Gregor Townsend expressed frustration this week over the team’s failure to take the few opportunities that came their way in the 18-3 defeat. “There were chances in that game against South Africa that we probably never saw on the pitch,” said Russell. “Under pressure we probably went into our shell a little bit.
“On Saturday we just need to have belief in ourselves and trust the work we have put in over the last six months to a year and stay on task. At times we will be under pressure and it will be tough, but we can fall back to what we have done building up to this game. We can have belief and confidence in ourselves and hopefully we can take the chances that will be out there.”
Russell admitted he was surprised at England’s decision to drop full-back Freddie Steward and replace him with the more attack-minded George Furbank and is also wary of the threat posed by Ollie Lawrence, who has come into the side at inside centre and offers a more muscular threat than Fraser Dingwall, the man he replaces.
“He brings something different to Dingwall,” said Russell. “I know Ollie from playing at Bath, I’ve only played seven or eight games with him but Cam [Redpath] knows him well. He gives them some directness in attack but in defence he likes that blitz and he likes coming through the back to put shots on boys so he’ll be a danger man for them so we’ll try to shut him down through our defence as best we can but in attack we’ll know what he will try and do.”
Russell has enjoyed four wins and one memorable draw against England in the last six years and although he has revelled in the successes there were some tough times in the early days his of Test career. He lost his first three matches against them – including a record 61-21 defeat in 2017 – and he doesn’t take the recent dominance for granted. He pinpoints the 2018 win as a turning point and also cites coming back from 31-0 down to earn a draw at Twickenham a year later as key to Scotland wresting control of a fixture England have traditionally dominated.
“So it’s been something that’s been building,” he said. “It’s not just one result, it’s something that’s taken time to change. You might have some boys in the team that have only ever won against England – they won’t know what it’s like to concede 60 points down at Twickenham. Unfortunately, I do.”
Russell still bears the scars and it’s part of the reason why he is determined to nullify England's blitz.
We just need to have belief in ourselves and trust the work we have put in
Finn Russell