Finn Russell opens up on Eddie Hearn, 100th cap, All Blacks and working with Scottish rugby’s rising star
Landmark Murrayfield match beckons for stand-off
Eddie Hearn isn’t everybody’s cup of tea but Finn Russell likes him.
Not surprising, you might think, given the super-promoter’s ability to add zeroes to his clients’ bank balances. But Russell also likes the way Hearn is getting more eyeballs on rugby, taking the sport out of its comfort zone and into new spheres of influence.
Earlier this month, Henry Pollock, English rugby’s wild child, was on the cover of Men’s Health, flexing his muscles sans chemise. Russell isn’t quite ready to bare all - “give me six months” - but he recognises the pulling power of the magazine.
Hearn’s flirtation with rugby has thus far seen him sign up Pollock and Russell, a heavyweight duo for the boxing promoter to get his teeth into. The Scotland stand-off reckons he’s behind the England flanker in the pecking order but doesn’t seem too fussed.
“I wouldn't say I'm his top client, that’s Pollock,” said Russell. “Then again, it's only me and Pollock so I’d be disappointed if I wasn’t one of them!
Eddie Hearn is raising rugby’s profile
“I think Eddie's great, he's really good for the sport. It just seems like rugby is everywhere now. Maybe it's just the people I follow and what you're seeing on your social media, but it definitely seems like people are much more aware.
“It just seems like there's more eyes on it, it seems like everyone's chatting about it, everyone's asking about it now. [There are] probably many more collaborations going on there which probably wouldn't have happened in the past.
“Obviously there's your normal sponsorships that you get but I think Pollock's been on the front of a couple of magazines. I don't think I'm ready for Men's Health yet but give me six months!”
Hearn’s Matchroom stable includes boxing greats like Anthony Joshua, Canelo Álvarez, Gennady Golovkin and Katie Taylor and they could be tempted along to the rugby next month, according to Russell
“Some of the boys are planning on coming up to some of the games in November,” he said. “I don't know if Eddie's planning on it, he's got a lot of stuff going on with his other things.”
November is rugby’s chance to move into the sporting spotlight. The club game is being packed away for four weeks as the Nations Championship resumes, with the best of the southern hemisphere heading north to try to conquer Europe.
Scotland open with a firecracker match against New Zealand at Murrayfield and it will be a landmark day for Russell as the 34-year-old fly-half wins his 100th Test cap.
Finn Russell to win his 100th Test cap
At the moment, he has 95 for Scotland and four for the Lions but he insists next Saturday is about beating the All Blacks, not his personal milestone.
“I think it's slightly different when it's your 100th Test cap instead of a 100th Scotland cap,” he said. “It's pretty cool, but not something I've been thinking about too much. You almost separate the Lions and the Scotland caps.”
Scotland, famously, have never beaten the All Blacks, with New Zealand coming out on top in 31 of the 33 Test matches played and the other two being drawn.
The last four encounters, all at Murrayfield, have been close with the visitors’ margin of victory being eight points in 2014, 2022 and 2025, and five points in 2017. Russell is the only Scotland player to have featured in all four of those games and it is a source of frustration that they have fallen short on each occasion.
“I definitely think there's always been a belief, but I suppose for us against the top teams, it's just about being able to play for 80 minutes,” said the Bath fly-half. “That's the main thing for us. If you look at the South Africa game in the summer, there were great parts of that game [Scotland lost 42-28 in Pretoria]. We played really well, but we didn't come away with the win. That 80-minute performance is what we're going after.
Dave Rennie’s impact on All Blacks
“We know how good the All Blacks are. They've really hit form since Dave Rennie's gone in there, especially. We know it's probably not good enough against the top teams to run them close and just lose at the end, or lose by eight points against the All Blacks every time. We need to try to change something to get these wins. It's not going to be easy, but we've got to get the ball, and that's our job to do.”
Russell worked under Rennie at Glasgow Warriors and the Scot has been impressed by the impact the coach has had with New Zealand. They lost the four-match Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series with South Africa 3-1 but did stun the Springboks by beating them 33-16 in the first Test at Ellis Park. The All Blacks then recorded two thumping wins over Australia, home and away, in the Beldisloe Cup, scoring seven tries in each match and playing with an attacking verve that left the Wallabies reeling.
“When you look at the stats, the All Blacks are some of the best in the world when they get into the 22, the red zone area. When they get in there, they're so clinical,” said Russell.
“They and South Africa are then so good at stopping other teams getting points when they get there themselves. That’s probably why they're number one and two in the world. We had a lot of chances against South Africa in the summer and didn't take them. It's different against the All Blacks, different defence, different players, but that's a work-on for us.
“I take a lot of positives from the games that we've had against top teams in the world, but it leaves a lot of work for us to try to get over the line eventually and beat them.
“To be fair, I didn't actually see that many of the Greatest Rivalry games but from the bits I saw, they seem so fluid in attack. Everyone's on the same page: from one to 23 they all understand the game inside out.
Nothing fancy, just well executed
“There will be a structure there, but they all just play very freely within that structure. They have a confidence, trust, and belief in the players around them, and having the knowledge to adapt and adjust and react off each other is probably their main strength.
“The way they execute, going down the edges or short sides, it's nothing fancy; it's just very well executed stuff. Running straight, fixing defenders, getting the pass, putting the pass on the money. The next man doing the same job. The clinical edge they've got and execution that they do, it's pretty incredible. I think they hold on to the ball so well as well.
“Nowadays when the contest in the air is such a big focus for everyone, they seem to hold on to the ball a lot, probably more so than anyone. And then they run it and back themselves. Having that confidence and belief and backing from the coaching staff to do that is a strength of theirs.”
The Nations Championship had added a more competitive edge to the summer and autumn Test windows but the big target remains next year’s Rugby World Cup and the new competition feels like a chance for each team to feel each other out before the global jamboree in Australia.
Scotland will be pretty satisfied with where they are in the Nations Championship after the summer games which saw them beat Argentina away, lose in South Africa and get the better of Fiji at Murrayfield. They sit second in the Northern Hemisphere standings, behind France. Gregor Townsend’s side open the second part of their Nations Championship campaign against the All Blacks and then host Australia and Japan in Edinburgh.
On the last weekend of November, they will head to Twickenham for ‘Finals Weekend’ where they play a final match against the Southern Hemisphere team that finishes in the equivalent position to Scotland in the standings after the completion of the pool matches.
Scotland need to do it for 80 minutes against the big guns
“Every team is probably building towards the World Cup subconsciously just now,” said Russell. “I wouldn't say if we were to beat the All Blacks, that's going to get us ahead of ourselves in thinking anything different about the World Cup. We've still got a lot of games before that obviously. But in terms of our mindset and that belief and confidence, just to be able to turn over a team like the All Blacks would be really good.
“Would that be us turning a corner? You'd hope so, but I don't know: we've not beaten them, so I don't know how it would be after that. But it would definitely be a big, big step forward for us. It would show us that we can't just go toe to toe and fall away at the end of the game, we can actually put these performances in to win.
“It comes down to individual games at a World Cup. A big win against New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, whoever it is, would be good for our confidence going into the World Cup.”
A statement victory would certainly be welcome. Scotland did knock off one of the big guns during the Six Nations, beating France at Murrayfield in a 90-point epic. Russell feels the ingredients are all there for Scotland and bristles slightly when asked if something needs to change.
“‘Changing something’ is not the right way to put it, because I think our game is working,” he said. “It's given us a lot of opportunities, a lot of chances. It's just probably the execution of when we get in there, and being able to do that for 80 minutes week in, week out. I'd say the Argentina game were really clinical but when we got in there against the Springboks, we actually had more chances, but converted a lower percentage.
“Part of it is experience. The more you play, the more you get these chances against the top teams, the more you'll become better at executing when you get there. I think that's going to be one of the main parts, how we convert when we get into that finish zone.
Finn Russell vows to play on after World Cup
“We are giving ourselves opportunities and the chances to get into there to score, but how can we then get that conversion rate from 35 per cent up to 50 per cent, 60 per cent or whatever it is that we need to get to.
“The All Blacks are obviously going to get chances, they're going to get into our 22 at some point, so how can we make it harder for them to score when they get down there as well? It’s both sides of the ball. Everyone in rugby is looking at that situation, how we can hold teams out for longer and make them work harder, or how can we score and be more efficient when we get down there?”
At 34, Russell is open-minded about his future. He is under contract at Bath until the end of next season and is enjoying life in the West Country. He married his long-term partner Emma Canning in the summer and says life is good on and off the pitch. One thing he is certain about is that he will continue playing beyond next year’s World Cup.
“Yeah, for sure. I've still got this year and next year on my contract at Bath. I don't know what will happen after that. Contract-wise, obviously you never know, things change. But I'm keen to keep playing. I've not got an age or a number that I want to get to cap-wise or contract-wise. I'm not too fussed, I'm just focussed on playing as long as I'm still enjoying it, which I am. As long as I'm still enjoying it, I'll just keep going until I feel like I've had enough.”
Working with Jake Dalziel appeals
Intriguingly, one of the things he has thought about after he does stop playing is working as a coaching consultant. So instead of being tied to a team, he would offer his services on a freelance basis to clubs or individuals. He cited young Jake Dalziel as an example of someone with whom he would like to work, with the 18-year-old stand-off catching the eye already at Newcastle Red Bulls.
“Because I'm 34, everyone's asking me what I'm going to do after [playing rugby], but I'm not close to thinking about finishing up anything soon so I'm not really thinking too much about life after,” said Russell.
“There's some stuff on the side that I do like properties and whatnot, a few investments here and there. People ask me about coaching, but I’m not sure, I don’t know. I think because I'm still in the mindset of a player, I'm not sure about coaching yet. I'm not ready to start thinking about it, if that makes any sense.
“I wouldn't mind doing individual consultancy work with a team or individual players. For talking’s sake, let's just say I got to work every couple of weeks or whatever with someone like Jake Dalziel who’s coming up. Going and helping out young kids like that or if it's a team that's struggling in attack, let's say Bath just now, how can we go in there and try to develop that?
“I wouldn't mind doing that; bouncing around a few different things to keep it fresh rather than being with a team day in, day out. I think after having been in the rugby world and the cycle, the system, the schedule for so long, something different would be quite nice and would be a fresh start.
“It's easier for me to say that now when I'm in it I think. In three years time, I'll probably have a different answer for you.”
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