THE DOOR THAT appeared to be firmly shut now seems to be opening. All Finn Russell has to do to re-appear in a Scotland shirt is stick to the rules set down for him by Gregor Townsend.
Unfortunately, from a Scotland perspective, peace talks won’t lead to a resolution in time for Saturday’s international in Lansdowne Road. Adam Hastings is likely to play at out-half instead.
After that, the potential is clearly there for Russell to return to the fold, a week after his dramatic exit from it, when he didn’t turn up for a training session after a night’s drinking.
Townsend and Russell subsequently had a productive meeting last Monday night. The path is open for the Racing 92 out-half to come back.
In that two and a half hour meeting I had with him on Monday night, Finn was aware of the consequences of his actions and aware that he wouldn’t be involved in Ireland because of that,” Townsend said at Scotland’s training camp in Spain. “We had a really good conversation after that information was passed to him.
“For anybody who wants to come into the team, wants to put their hand up for selection, form is part of it, so is ability, and also being able to be with the team and live up to those team standards. That’s something that someone who is out the team just now or in the team would have to agree to and accept.
“In terms of where were now as a team, because we’ve got to prepare for Ireland that’s the focus of the 34 [players] we’ve got here in Spain. We’ll see after the Ireland game and beyond what happens.”
Glasgow’s Adam Hastings will play in Russell’s absence against Ireland – and received praise from Townsend yesterday. “Adam’s been outstanding over the last few weeks,” the Scotland coach said. “I thought his [Champions Cup] game against Exeter was one of the best performances I’ve seen from a stand-off in the last year or two in terms of having learnt what to do against that Exeter defence, looking at the quality of opposition he was up against, and also his execution.
“Adam’s a much improved player from this time a year ago. Any player goes through tough times when he has to learn and adapt. As a 10 you’ve so many decisions to make during a game and it’s great to see how well he’s played this year.
“I thought he looked really good in the World Cup, albeit in the Russia game, playing with confidence and making the right decisions. That means Adam will be more than ready to start for Scotland in a Six Nations game.”
