ONE IN A MILLION
Laidlaw hails Russell as the world’s best after Racing 92 turn down huge Japanese bid
FORMER Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw believes Finn Russell showed for the Lions why he is the best fly-half in world rugby — and why he will continue to be at the centre of multi-million pound offers for his services. Michael Cheika, director of rugby at Green Rockets Tokatsu in Japan, wanted to buy the Scotland star out of the last two seasons of his Racing 92 contract and make him the highest-paid Scottish player in the world on more than £1million a year.
The former Australia head coach had put the 28-year-old former Glasgow Warrior top of his shopping list for the start of the Japanese league season but had his approaches turned down by Russell’s French paymasters.
That didn’t surprise Laidlaw, who expects his friend to spend a few more years in Paris and to also star for Scotland at the 2023 World Cup in France.
Despite always expecting Russell to stay in Europe, he admitted to feeling disappointed his close friend wasn’t going to join him in Japan — at least for now.
‘Don’t get me wrong, it would have been awesome to have Finn come over to Japan,’ said Laidlaw, who is heading into his second season with Shining
Arcs of Tokyo. ‘Reading between the lines, it would cost a fortune to get him out of his Racing contract and, anyway, I would think they would be pretty reluctant to let him go.
‘I haven’t spoken to him about it but look at it from Finn’s point of view. He is loving life in Paris, playing for Scotland and has the World Cup in France to look forward to in a couple of years. If he wants to come to Japan or elsewhere after that when he is in the early 30s, then so be it, but I don’t expect him to do that any time soon.’
Laidlaw (left), who was back home in the Borders when the Lions Test matches against South Africa were being played, said he wasn’t surprised that Chieka made an approach for Russell’s services. on behalf of the Japanese club, ‘Finn showed when he came on for the Lions in that third Test against South Africa why he is the best No 10 in the world,’ said the former Scotland captain. ‘He was fantastic in that match. He played with that spark we know he has. It was a shame that the Lions came up short in that final Test.’ ‘A lot of people see Finn as laid-back but he did extremely well to get back fit for that third Test. I know how hard he worked to get back into the frame. For someone who hadn’t been playing for three weeks to step into a Test match of that magnitude and put in a world-class display like that was incredible.’
Laidlaw, who was part of the 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand, felt that the Scot who performed best throughout the whole tour was scrum-half Ali Price.
The scrum-half started in the first Test and came off the bench in the other two. And he also sympathised with Stuart Hogg over the type of tactical plan the Lions played — which he felt did not suit the full-back.
‘Ali grew in confidence through getting a few games and performing really well in them,’ said Laidlaw. ‘He did well in the first Test and I was surprised they didn’t start him in the second. For me, he was one of the best players in the Lions squad.
‘Stuart got his Test caps but he is not just a kick-box kind of guy. One of the frustrations was the way the Tests went that he was involved in — there was no rugby played at all.
‘Hoggy is in his element when he’s getting his hands on the ball and beating defenders, with people making a bit of space outside him.’