Finn Russell breaks silence over Scotland omission, New Zealand recall and Gregor Townsend relationship

Finn Russell has broken his silence on his Scotland squad omission and subsequent reinstatement ahead of Sunday’s match against New Zealand.

Finn Russell has been called up to the Scotland squad to face New Zealand after being left out of the Gregor Towsend's original selection for the Autumn Series. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

The 30-year-old fly half was left out of the original group for the Autumn Nations Series by head coach Gregor Townsend for form reasons, with Blair Kinghorn, Adam Hastings and Ross Thompson selected ahead of him. However, Hastings picked up an injury in last weekend’s win over Fiji and Russell, who has helped his French club Racing win their last two matches, has been recalled into the national squad.

Russell and Townsend have had a strained relationship in the past – Russell was one of six players who went on an unauthorised night out earlier in the year during the Six Nations – and the two have not seen eye to eye at times over team tactics. However, the former Glasgow man flew back to Scotland on Tuesday and is ready to play against the All Blacks.

“I hadn’t heard from Gregor since before the summer so I wasn’t too surprised,’ Russell said of his original snub in a Daily Mail interview. “It is what it is. It’s rugby, I suppose. I’ll see how it goes this weekend against the All Blacks. If I’m in the (match-day) squad or not I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. I haven’t been in the squad for a while so I’m not sure what the vibe is.”

On his relationship with Townsend, Russell continued: “We’ve hardly spoken since the Six Nations and that’s just how it is. We’ve not spoken much at all. We’re alright, I suppose. He’ll have had his reasons so I’m not looking into it too much. There is no point me worrying about anything like that. I can’t control what happens with Scotland. There is not much I can do about the Scotland squad or who Gregor picks. That’s not my job. My job is to keep playing well in France. I’m happy doing it so I’ve kept that going. I’m not a coach and I’m not the one picking the team thankfully. I’ll get back into camp and worry about that then.”

Ahead of Sunday’s game, the Russell added: “I text him (Townsend) a few times just chatting about the attack system, shape, and a couple things around that. Nothing too much. I’ll wait and see how it is when I get in.

“It was me needing clarity on a few things from the last year and a half. I had a few questions and got some good clarity back. I gave my thoughts and we had a couple of texts back and forth to discuss a few things so we were all clear on the attacking side before I go back in.

“I’m pretty chilled, to be honest. I haven’t been in since the Six Nations so I don’t know how the environment is going to be and how it’s all going. It will be easy enough to get up to speed on the rugby side. I’ve been playing long enough.”