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Finn Russell (file pic). David Davies
Pastures new

Scotland fly-half to replace Dan Carter at Racing

Finn Russell has big shoes to fill at the French club.

SCOTLAND FLY-HALF Finn Russell will replace Dan Carter at Racing 92 next summer, the club confirmed on their website on Tuesday as the player visited Paris.

The club, which is based in the Paris suburbs, said that Russell, who is 25 and has played 32 times for Scotland, spent time with his future coaches on Tuesday.

Russell’s Scottish club, Glasgow Warriors, said earlier this month that the player had “attracted interest from numerous European clubs” and that he had received a “once in a lifetime offer”.

“I’ve been lucky to play six seasons for Glasgow, but for my progression I felt that it was time for a change of environment,” Russell said on Tuesday. He added that Racing “is a big club and I’m impatient to move there and play with my new team-mates”.

Russell kicked 13 points on Saturday in Scotland’s sensational 53-24 victory over Australia at Murrayfield and a week earlier he booted seven points as the Scots lost by just five points to the All Blacks. Russell said on Tuesday that it had been “a magic week”.

Racing have also recently signed Pat Lambie, a fly-half who has played 56 times for South Africa.

The pair will have the challenging task of replacing double world champion and three-time world player of the year Carter, who on Saturday confirmed that he will head to Japan at the end of the season to play for Kobelco Steelers after three seasons at Racing.

“I had not really thought about the departure of Dan, I thought that perhaps he would still be here, I would have learned a lot from him,” said Russell.

“Coming here and playing the same position as Pat and trying to succeed (Carter) is a beautiful challenge.”

© – AFP 2017

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