How Finn Russell and rest of Scotland players fared in final club fixtures before Six Nations

Gregor Townsend and coaches watch final club matches as all roads lead to Cardiff

Scotland centre Rory Hutchinson in action on his 150th appearance for Northampton Saints during the win over Newcastle Falcons on Saturday. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Several Scotland players were in action over the weekend in their final club matches before the start of the Six Nations.

Having already lost three members from his original squad due to injury, head coach Gregor Townsend was looking to avoid any further withdrawals ahead of the tournament opener against Wales in Cardiff next Saturday. Darcy Graham, Adam Hastings and Will Hurd all dropped out last week with Ross McCann and Elliot Millar-Mills earning late call-ups in their place while Grant Gilchrist is banned for matchday one following his two yellow cards for Edinburgh against Scarlets last weekend.

All of the Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby contingent were rested with the URC taking a break until mid-February but several matches went ahead in the Gallagher Premiership in England.

Scotland trio Finn Russell, Cameron Redpath and Josh Bayliss all featured for Bath in a remarkable 57-44 defeat away to west country rivals Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate. Fly-half talisman Russell kicked two penalties and three conversions and also produced a brilliant assist for Joe Cokanasiga's opening try, however, he went on to gift Bristol their final try with a risky crossfield kick 10m from his own line which landed straight in the arms of Bears' Rich Lane who touched down to put the game beyond doubt. Magnus Bradbury, left out of the Scotland squad amid calls for his inclusion, scored one of Bristol's tries.

Saracens flanker Andy Christie staked a claim for a start against Wales with his third man of the match award in his last eight games in a 40-22 victory over Exeter at a packed StoneX Stadium. The 24-year-old has only been capped four times by Scotland since making his debut in the 2022 Six Nations and missed the World Cup last year through injury, but on current form is likely to feature strongly in Townsend’s thoughts. Squad newcomer Alec Hepburn, the Exeter prop who has previously been capped by England, started the match before being replaced in the 67th minute.

There was a winning send-off for Rory Hutchinson and Elliot Millar-Mills at Northampton as the bonus-point 38-13 victory over winless Newcastle ensured Saints will remain top of the Premiership standings heading into the Six Nations break. It was a special occasion for Hutchison, who usually plays centre but was selected in an unaccustomed role of full-back as he led the team out on his 150th appearance for the club. Millar-Mills was named on the bench and was introdued in the 62nd minute to help see out the victory.

On Sunday, uncapped Arron Reed, who has been called up for the first time, was on the losing side as Sale Sharks succumbed to a 32-20 defeat to a Gloucester side who had been on a run on nine consecutive Premiership defeats.

There were also two Scots in action in the Top14 in France. Toulon scrum-half Ben White scored a try in a 25-23 win over La Rochelle – although he did come off later in the match – while Toulouse full-back Blair Kinghorn kicked six points in the 27-20 win over Racing 92 in Paris.

After the trip to Wales on February 3, Scotland host France and England back-to-back on February 10 and 24. Townsend’s men then finish with consecutive away matches to Italy and Ireland on March 9 and 16.