IT’S HIM OR ME
++Russell fires volley at Townsend and demands change ++Nicol says exiled fly-half can’t dictate team culture
Finn Russell has thrown down the gauntlet to the sRu and will not play for scotland again under Gregor Townsend unless the head coach changes his approach.
Russell’s stance was immediately criticised by former scotland captain Andy nicol. Writing in his Sportsmail column today, nicol remains anxious that some kind of peace deal can be brokered to bring both parties together.
But he says: ‘One player, irrespective of how good or important he is to the team, cannot set the team culture. He needs to be part of that culture.
‘Russell has said he wants to play for scotland again but doesn’t appear to want to compromise what he believes is how a team should operate.
‘When i joined up with the scotland camp, you adjusted how you operate to fall in line with what was required.’
in what amounts to a ‘him or me’ ultimatum,
Russell admitted it would be ‘very hard’ for him to play for his country so long as Townsend remained in charge. ‘I’m going to back myself to play for Scotland again at some point,’ said Russell. ‘It’s definitely going to happen. The way it’s going to happen is for me to go back to my club, play really well, be me and happy. ‘The current situation, set-up and environment, I don’t think it’s good for me as a person or as a player. I’ve felt like this for more than a year and the last three weeks have shown me that it doesn’t seem to be changing at all. ‘I’d love to play for Scotland again because I love playing for my country. But until I see or feel the big changes that I need to get back to playing at my best, it’s going to be very hard for me to do it.’ Russell’s decision to go public with his grievances in a Sunday Times interview took the SRU and Townsend by surprise. Still reeling from Saturday’s 13-6 defeat to England, the governing body refused to make any comment yesterday. Townsend had spoken on Saturday evening of bringing Russell back into the fold for the trip to face Italy in a fortnight but with the feud so deep-rooted, such a scenario looks impossible. Russell revealed that he had ‘no relationship’ with the Scotland head coach ‘for a very long time’ and felt there was ‘a lack of trust’ towards the players within the Scotland coaching set-up. ‘This whole situation with Scotland has been made out to be about me wanting to have a drink when in actual fact, it’s about control, respect and trust, on and off the pitch,’ said Russell. ‘I want the best for Scotland and so I’ve questioned the environment to try and make it better. We have clashed quite a lot, him saying one thing and me saying another. ‘It’s come to a point where I’m saying: “You can be you and I’m going to be me”. ‘That’s how this relationship is going to be. Well, it’s not really a relationship. Just now, there’s no relationship. We don’t work together. ‘It’s a decision I’m going to make. If I look back in ten years when I’m retired and wish I hadn’t done, that’s fine. ‘For me just now, for my rugby and my health, I don’t think I can do it. It’s not as simple as “have two weeks off, come back and it will be fine”. If only it was about the one thing.’ Russell contrasted the current regime with his time under previous coach Vern Cotter and said: ‘Eight years I have known him (Gregor Townsend) as a coach and I don’t know him at all. We’ve not got a personal relationship. ‘With Racing head coach Laurent Travers, it’s a much more personal relationship. ‘It’s like it was with Scotland under Vern Cotter. When we’re training and playing, they are my coaches, but with that we can have a good, honest chat. They treat you like an adult.’ The first sign of a rift between Russell and Townsend came at half-time against England at Twickenham last year. Down 31-7 at the break, Townsend wanted the same tactics adopted, while Russell wanted to run the ball more and take the game to England. Scotland followed Russell’s blueprint and came away with a remarkable 38-38 draw. ‘A lot of our game plan last year revolved around stats and kicking and, for me, that’s not rugby,’ said Russell. ‘Under Vern, it was a very simple game plan but you could play anything off it.’ When asked about how fans would react to him turning down a chance to play for his country, Russell said: ‘I need to do what makes me happy and makes me play my best rugby. ‘We need change. We are tracking along a road and it’s not been working for us, especially not for me.’