SMILES BETTER
Wine cellar under the pitch, goal kicking props — they do things differently in France and Finn Russell’s loving it
WHEN Finn Russell left training this week, he had one final job to do: collect his wine order from the team ma n a g e r. B e n e a t h Racing 92’s training ground, there is a cellar stocked with the finest vintages from vineyards belonging to the club’s billionaire owner, Jacky Lorenzetti. It is available to the players at a discounted rate so Russell deci ded to treat hi s friends.
‘ I’ve got my mates over from Stirling this weekend — a sparky, a farmer and one who works for a bus company — so I thought I’d pick up a few bottles… and some buckfast,’ he says, plonking the 2012 Chateau Pedesclaux and Chateau Lilian Ladouys on his kitchen worktop. ‘It comes straight out of your salary so it feels like you’re not even paying for it. I’m not sure the lads will remember the match!’
They do things differently in Paris — on and off the pitch.
Their home stadium — La Defense Arena — feels more like a nightcl ub with its f l ashing l i ghts, dancers and smoke machines. A £300million venue which converts rugby into a rock concert. And Russell is in charge of the show, with Munster next up in t he Champions Cup this afternoon. This season, Russell has emerged as Europe’s in- form No 10, with performances t hat have been anything but conventional. His highlights reel f eatures nutmegs, no-look passes and all- round swagger. For a sport that is trying to boost its marketability to drive up profits, he is the sort of player whom the financiers at CVC should have their eye on.
‘ We have fun playing here and the fans enjoy t hemselves, t oo,’ says the Scotsman.
‘ Some teams just ki ck t he ball and defend, while others have a bit more fun. No one’s really going to enjoy watching end-toend kicking. I imagine the fans want to see the ball getting thrown around, touchline to touchline, with boys making big breaks and offloads.
‘Some northern hemisphere teams might say, “Well, we can’t offload for the next 15 minutes because we’ ve made five mistakes”. If you’ve got a skill set, you should be encouraged to use it. We’ve got a prop, Ben Tameifuna, 20 stone plus, who can kick goals. Why not call a move to hit him off the lineout — and he puts a chip over the top? ‘It’s amazing what the owner has built here and it could be the way to take rugby forwards: bigger crowds and more involvement. With the stadium, it wasn’t just “we’ll put a new pitch down and build some stands”. It’s a show. I imagine it’s like watching sport in America.’ Certain coaches prefer a ‘safety first’ approach but Russell is t he antithesis t o rigid, pragmatic gameplans. Players talk about executing roles and sticking to patterns, rather than thinking on their feet. Russell will never join the rise of the robots. Sir Clive Woodward criticised him for laughing during Scotland’s national anthem but the fly-half’s philosophy will never change. ‘ There’s not one profile for a professional rugby player anymore,’ says Russell, who rides to training on a motorbike.
‘It’s a team sport, but there are 23 people from different backgrounds. Individuals. Some are serious, some aren’t. I got criticised for smiling during the anthem. If I want to have a bag of sweets and chill out before a game, that’s me doing my own thing.
‘When I broke through at Glasgow I would have a burger and chips and a pint of Coke before a game. If other boys want to be really serious, that’s fine, that’s them.
‘You’ll get the best rugby when boys are having a bit of a laugh and a joke… expressing themselves. When they’re confident and comfortable, you might get a bit more swagger.
‘Course you have to be serious at times, and everyone has to be on the same page, but the way I act seriously is different to how other players act seriously. Does that mean training with your laces done up and wearing the exact clothes that you’re told to? It could go that way… or you could take a group of individuals who do what they do.’
For Russell, t he f ormula is working. At club level, he is a talisman. Although the lack of firepower in the Scottish ranks will always pose a challenge in the international arena, he has been tipped as a contender to wear the Lions jersey in South Africa next year. Maybe he could be the man who c o ul d unpick t he world champions.
‘Everyone wants to go on that tour and I’m no exception, but I’ve not thought much about it,’ he says.
‘I could play amazing for the next six months then be out of form for a year. I’m playing all right out here, so hopefully that can carry on. It’s not something I’m really looking at.’