“I think me and Gregor actually now have a better understanding of each other”
● Finn Russell wants to play for Scotland again and is hopeful he can repair his relationship with the head coach
FINN RUSSELL on his relationship with Gregor Townsend and the prospect of ending his exile from the Scotland squad.
Exiled Scotland stand-off Finn Russell has hinted that there may be a glimmer of hope when it comes to repairing his damaged relationship with national head coach Gregor Townsend, but accepts there will have to be compromises made on both sides.
The Racing 92 star played no part in the recent curtailed Six Nations championship after leaving the squad hotel two weeks before the start of the tournament after a row over an alleged breach of team protocol.
Currently in lockdown in Paris after the devastating Covid-19 outbreak which has resulted in sport being put on hold, Russell, who is stuck on 49 caps, said he hopes to turn out for his country again.
“I think there will be a lot of discussions and catch-ups to fix it, which will be good,” the stand-off told former Scotland lock Jim Hamilton in a phone chat with the Rugbypass website’s Lockdown podcast.
“In the long run it will be good for us as well, not just in the short term, to try to just fix things and patch it over.
“I think going forward for myself, Gregor and the team, it will be good that we can actually have a better relationship with each other and we can actually properly work forward.”
Russell gave his side of the story in a forthright interview with a Sunday newspaper, which received an equally strong response from Townsend.
In a statement, the coach said: “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 don’t change for one player, even if that’s not what they experience in their club setting.”
Asked if there will have to be some gesture by him to resurrect his Test career, Russell said: “I think it’s got to be both. The way it has all come out is what it is, but
I think me and Gregor actually now have a better understanding of each other, having called each other during the Six Nations, and I think now he has a better understanding of where I’m coming from.”
Dialogue has continued throughout Russell’s spell in the international wilderness.
“I spoke to him [Townsend] before the France game and tried to help him out,” said the 27-year-old, who played under the coach at Glasgow before his move to the French giants almost two years ago
“In the fallow week before the France game, I called Gregor and said that I didn’t know if I was going to get called back in or not, but I think for everyone it is best that we just leave it for now and start again after the Six Nations and move forward from there.
“I’d been back here – back and forward – and there had been a lot of talking and I think it was better just for me to just make a decision to stop it before the last two games and let the boys go ahead and focus on the game without any of the journalists chatting about it again. And then I said to Gregor that we can start working on this again after the Six Nations.
“It was good, it was fine. I think just now, with nothing on, I will give him a call at some point, have a chat and try to move things on.”
Scotland’s final Six Nations match against Wales in Cardiff was postponed and, given the current desperate situation regarding the virus pandemic, they may not play another
Test until that match is re-arranged later in the year.
“The summer tour [to South Africa and New Zealand], I don’t know if that will go ahead now,” said Russell. “Because we were speaking about that: fixing things before the summer tour, which would be good, obviously, but I don’t know if that will go ahead now or not.
“Still, for me, I want to fix things, and we’ll work it out in a few months, I think.”
Russell said he had no regrets about going public in that interview.
“It was me sticking up for myself, saying: ‘that’s just one side of the story and this is my side of the story’,” he added. “I suppose there are always two sides to a story, so I had to say mine and I don’t regret it at all. It was just something I had to do in the context of it all.”
Russell insisted that his relation
“It was me sticking up for myself, saying: ‘that’s just one side of the story and this is my side of the story… there are always two sides to astory,soihadtosaymine and I don’t regret it at all. It was something I had to do in the context of it all”
FINN RUSSELL
ship with Scotland team-mates remains good.
“I have a good relationship with Hoggy [Scotland captain Stuart Hogg],” he said. “It was fine. Before the article came out, I spoke to him and [former housemate and Scotland scrum-half ] Ali [Price]. I said that there is an article coming out which is my side of the way things are going. So, I gave them a heads-up before it.
“It’s fine. It will be alright. Who knows if I will play a part in the Six Nations this year? You never know!
“There are a few months left until the end of the season and I think the plan is for me and Gregor to try to catch up a couple of times, if not in person then over the phone or on Facetime, to try to move things forward for the summer tour.
“We spoke a lot about the summer tour going forward and how we can work on things for then, and how we can both come back together for the summer tour if not before.”