Six Nations: Finn Russell v Marcus Smith duel likely to shape outcome of Calcutta Cup

Gregor Townsend got a sneak preview of the Calcutta Cup stand-off battle during the Lions tour and the Scotland coach liked what he saw.

Saturday’s clash of rugby’s oldest adversaries is likely to throw up a duel between Finn Russell, Scotland’s sorcerer in chief, and Marcus Smith, England’s young pretender. Both men are cut from the same cloth, creative fulcrums who shape their sides’ attacking intent.

This will be Russell’s eighth Six Nations campaign and Smith’s first but the latter has come a long way in a short time and his performances in the autumn look to have convinced Eddie Jones to build his team around him.

Just 22, the Manila-born Smith was catapulted on to the Lions tour at its halfway point when Russell injured his Achilles in South Africa. He played one match only but delivered an accomplished performance, converting all seven tries in a 49-3 win over the Stormers.

Finn Russell, left, and Marcus Smith, right, were team-mates on the Lions tour in South Africa but will be adversaries at Murrayfield when Scotland face England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Russell recovered to play a key role in the final Test and Townsend was left purring after watching the pair in Cape Town.

“The training quality during that last week in South Africa, and the way Marcus and Finn were training, was incredible,” said the Scotland coach, who was in charge of the Lions attack during the tour.

“We’re delighted that Finn is with us but I’m sure England are delighted that Marcus has come through and is challenging at ten and played so well in November.

“They are different styles of tens to 10-15 years ago but they have a lot of shared vision and skill as to how they play the game, whether it’s passing, running game or a shorter kicking game.”

Finn Russell sparked the British & Irish Lions attack during the third Test in South Africa. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Warren Gatland, the Lions head coach, picked Dan Biggar as his starting ten in all three Test matches in South Africa. It was a conservative selection which did little to unleash the tourists’ attack and it was only when the injured Welshman was replaced by Russell in the tenth minute of the final Test that the Lions really started to spark.

Smith is a supremely gifted playmaker in the Russell mould and Townsend thinks England’s willingness to put their faith in the Harlequins fly-half is part of a wider shift in philosophy in the sport.

“It could be a new way of playing we’re seeing, which more and more tens are adopting,” noted Townsend, who was never afraid to take risks during his own long career as a Test stand-off. “It’s more of an attacking game than just a facilitating game.”

Marcus Smith is in line to make his Six Nations debut for England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Smith’s rise borders on the meteoric. Having inspired Harlequins to their stunning Premiership semi-final comeback against Bristol last season and then to victory over Exeter in the final, he was given his full England debut against the United States. As he left the pitch after his second game against Canada a week later, he discovered that he had been called up by the Lions.

He then got the nod as England’s starting ten in the Autumn Nations Series matches against Australia and South Africa and piloted the side to victories in both, kicking a match-winning penalty against the world champions.

So far, he has handled everything thrown at him but the Six Nations is a step up and the eyes of the rugby world will be on him if he is handed a championship debut at Murrayfield.

Russell, by contrast, is preparing for his seventh Calcutta Cup game and has not been on the losing side in this fixture since 2017. At 29, he’s at the top of his game and is playing with arguably the strongest Scotland squad assembled during his eight years in international rugby.

Finn Russell is seeking a third Calcutta Cup win over England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Russell and Townsend should both be emboldened by their Lions experiences although Townsend does not believe he has gained any significant insight into England’s top players and suggests that the opposite may be true.

“I think you could flip it round and say the players from other nations have worked with more Scots players than on previous Lions tours and worked with Scots coaches, both attack and defence, so is it an advantage for them?

“The advantage we may get out of it is that we’ve had more players than before on a Lions tour and the confidence they got from not only being selected but how they trained and played on that tour.

“I’m so proud of how they set standards in training and a lot of them played Test match rugby, competing with players from other countries. So their own individual belief should be at a higher level than it was at this time last year.

“There may be micro chat around certain players, whether that’s what they do in certain scrums or someone who likes to defend a different way. And we get that through our players playing in England as well. Stuart [Hogg] plays at Exeter alongside some England players, and Jonny Gray and Sam Skinner are there too. We’ve got players at every English club so the players will be providing that information as much as what we picked up in the summer in South Africa.”

There has been much talk about how open this year’s Six Nations appears, with France, England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland all fancying their chances. Unlike the other four, the Scots have struggled to make their mark on the tournament over the last 22 years but Townsend was justifiably bullish when asked about his side’s prospects.

Marcus Smith played a key role in England's Autumn Nations Series win over South Africa. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

“Can we compete for the trophy? That’s why we’re here,” he said. “We believe in this group and we can go into this tournament wanting to be there right at the last week but we know how hard it’s going to be and it’s going to require maximum effort and maximum focus throughout this campaign. But we’ve had experiences to put us in positions like that before and we’ve got the players available to us to really challenge every team we’ll face this year.”

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