SRU SHOULD TELL FINN HE WON’T PLAY FOR SCOTLAND AGAIN, SAYS SIR CLIVE
Itry not to be overly partisan in my columns because I love good rugby and admire top-quality play from all teams but I hope Scotland record a thumping win over Italy on Saturday.
I was sickened by Finn russell’s unjustified and often incoherent character assassination of Gregor townsend last week. It crossed a line and, if I was townsend, I would issue a simple statement.
If russell does not apologise, he will not play for Scotland while townsend is coach. In fact, I wish the SRU CEO (Mark Dodson) would step in first and state that russell won’t play for Scotland again regardless of who is coach.
Who exactly does russell think he is? As a fly-half, he has great talent but is wildly inconsistent and has regularly failed to deliver controlled 80-minute match-winning performances. He disappoints as much as he excites.
russell needs to show a little humility. the Scotland rugby team have been playing for 149 years and his part in that history is very small indeed.
I was faced with a similar situation with richard Cockerill, following the 1999 World Cup, after which he wrote a book, which I considered to be largely nonsense, in particular the accusation that I was a bully. I asked him for a public apology. He declined, so I banished him from the squad.
I told him he would never again play for England on my watch and he didn’t. A really good hooker, Cockers missed out on the World Cup in 2003 when he was undoubtedly still playing well enough to make our squad.
I didn’t enjoy taking such a firm line but it needed to be done. there was not a word of dissent in the squad and, in fact, I felt it strengthened my position, although that is not why I did it.
But there is more. In 2005, I was on the board at Leicester and had the final say in who we elected as head coach. It was a strong field but I chose richard Cockerill because I believed that a maturing Cockers had the makings of a great young coach. And I wasn’t wrong.
He phoned me up a few days later, thanked me profusely and commented that he assumed he would have no chance because of our ‘history’. I said: “Nonsense”. Everybody makes mistakes. the main thing is to learn from them and be better. Cockers has done that in his coaching career, with power to add.
I was delighted last week to read him come out strongly in support of townsend over russell, citing his own painful expulsion from the England team as a parallel.
Cockers understood that no coach can allow a player to behave like that. We have exchanged a couple of humorous texts since.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s other Six Nations fixtures, England are still in a very strong position to challenge for the Championship ahead of their meeting with Ireland at twickenham on Sunday. they may have made a middling start to the Six Nations but they are the only team in the first two rounds to claim an away win and now face two home games on the bounce.
I can’t see Eddie Jones making many changes from the Scotland game. His mind seems to be made up with regards to tom Curry at No 8, although he is clearly missing the point.
Of course, Curry can go well at No8 — he’s a great rugby player — it’s just that by playing there, England deprive themselves of possibly the world’s best flanker.
Much attention will focus on the two captains, Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell, and ideally I would like to see them in direct opposition at fly-half.
I haven’t always been an out-andout advocate of Farrell at ten for England, simply because I always want two playmakers and George Ford and Farrell do provide that.
My main reasoning for switching, however, is that, although Farrell is an accomplished test 12, he is one of the world’s best tens and that’s where England need him. the World Cup final finally convinced me I needed to change my mind.
Look at it another way. I am certain Sexton could make a very decent test 12 but why would Ireland bother with that when he bosses games at ten? I have a feeling that if an Ireland or indeed a Lions coach asked Sexton to play inside centre, he might get a very short and direct reply!
It would be tough on Ford but test rugby is full of tough selection decisions. the one thing I can promise you is Farrell’s dad, Andy, would be delighted to see his son playing 12 and not ten!