OH, how we laughed when Finn Russell launched that ludicrously ambitious drop-goal attempt from about 47 metres out with 54 minutes played and Scotland leading 17-14 in Saturday’s match against Wales at the Principality Stadium.
Classic Finn. He has never kicked a drop-goal in international rugby before, so he might as well start with an absolute worldy. Dave Rennie – Russell’s erstwhile coach at Glasgow Warriors and a no-nonsense character – once described the stand-off’s appetite for audacity as “trying to pull flowers out of his backside” (albeit the New Zealander did have an ulterior motive when he uttered those words given the playmaker was just about to disappear to Racing 92 and the coach was pushing the idea that next in line Adam Hastings was a more-rounded, level-headed number 10).
The fact that Russell’s effort wobbled harmlessly into Dan Biggar’s arms 15 yards short of the intended target was predictable, and it did hand possession back to Wales, but there was no real damage done because the Welsh clearance to their 10-metre line gave Scotland possession back almost exactly in line with where their stand-off had just kicked from. If nothing else, it gave Wales another thing to think about as they worked to keep one of the game’s most unpredictable attacking threats in his box.
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Perhaps keeping the ball in hand would have created an opportunity for Scotland’s dangerous back-field runners to have a go against a fragmented Welsh defence, but – hand on heart – none of us were cursing Russell at the time. We still felt Scotland had the beating of this Welsh team despite the stop-start nature of the team’s performance up to that point. They just needed to produce one more passage of play as slick as the Darcy Graham try and we recognised that if that was going to happen then it would be because the chief architect was playing his natural game. Remember that Russell had a pivotal role in that Graham try with a long pass which gave the little winger the glimpse of a chance he needed.
We all know that Russell is at his best when he is operating on instinct. The drop-goal attempt strayed from ‘calculated gamble’ into ‘wishful thinking’ but it was a no risk move, and he has an impressive back catalogue of match-transforming moments achieved through attempting something out of nothing.
Unfortunately for Scotland, Russell’s pass to set up Graham’s try was an isolated moment of magic from their great sorcerer, and with the team’s other leading creative force, Stuart Hogg, also struggling to find his mojo, their attack lacked the bite to really make life uncomfortable for the hosts.
It was only as the dust began to settle after Scotland’s defeat that focus turned to the Russell drop-goal attempt, which came to be viewed in some eyes as proof of his flippant attitude to the game. The stand-off’s habit of smirking his way through adversity and of going for one-handed intercepts was also introduced as evidence by the scapegoaters – who are happy to forget until it next suits them that Russell has consistently turned games on their head with his laughing cavalier routine and from his betting the house on being able to pull off an interception.
Well, the interception didn’t come off on this occasion, but you can see why he went for it, and let’s not forget that the yellow card only came after Nic Berry was prompted by the TMO. Initially, the referee didn’t even regard it as a penalty. The sin-binning was the right decision, but on another day things might have turned out very differently. That’s what you get with Russell.
Sometimes his stunts work, such as the interception which tied that crazy match against England in 2019. Sometimes they don’t but he gets away with it, such as his mad, charged-down drop-goal attempt in the final minute of last year’s Caclutta Cup match. Saturday wasn’t his day, but why are we focussing on Russell’s desperate (and successful) attempt to stop a near certain try on his own line, rather than the needless penalty given away near halfway a few minutes earlier by George Turner playing the ball on the deck, which put Scotland under that pressure?
Pep Guardiola once said of his mentor Johan Cruyff: “If a genius does it right, and that’s nearly always, the result is perfect. But if a genius does something wrong, it goes so incredibly wrong that you want to murder him. Only geniuses take those risks.”
Russell’s vision, his willingness to back his ability and instincts, are his greatest weapons. It’s the nature of the beast – take away his claws and you are left with a pussycat.
You want conformity? You want to play rugby by numbers? Then Russell is not and never will be your man. But be careful what you wish for.
Head coach Gregor Townsend could cut out the danger of any future lapses by replacing him with someone more reliable/conservative, but that creates problems elsewhere in the game-plan, because Scotland don’t have the power to steamroller their way to success. They need an edge somewhere else.
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Russell’s opposite number on Saturday, the great Dan Biggar, is cut from different cloth but just as influential when on song – which he was against Scotland
He will never be as flash as Russell – he would never try to be – but he kicked accurately and cleverly, and he managed his team with the authority of a man who has never lost the desire to get the best out of himself and those around him throughout his 100 cap international career.
“Dan, for me, epitomises what you want in a rugby team and that’s someone who fights for every last inch,” said Wales head coach Wayne Pivac afterwards. “He doesn’t give an inch and not only does he fight to win every blade of grass on the pitch, he also does a good job with the match officials. I’m very pleased he was able to do a good job today and captain the team to victory.”
Wales had a limited game-plan which played to their strengths, with every member of the team buying in. Keep in mind that while this was not one of the great Welsh sides, neither was it a team of mugs, and some of the more hysterical Scottish reactions to Saturday’s defeat have shown a shocking disregard towards a side in which 15 out of 23 member of the match-day squad were part of last year’s championship winning effort.
Essentially, this was a contest between two evenly matched teams. The Welsh starting XV contained seven Lions tourists with a total of 11 Lions Test caps between them, compared to six Lions and also 11 Test caps in the Scotland line-up. The Welsh starting XV had a total of 532 caps to their name, with 263 more – including two Lions – to come off the bench. Scotland had 553 caps to start with just 126 – also including two Lions – on the bench, and remember it was in the final 15 minutes that this match got away from the visitors.
During that crucial last quarter of an hour, the hosts threw Jonathan Davies into the fray to win his 94th cap for Wales, his 100th in total once his rich Lions pedigree is added in. At 33, he may be in the twilight of his brilliant career, but that is an awful lot of experience and know-how to add to a tense situation.
Scotland had more form and momentum coming into the game but no divine right to win against a Wales side desperate to deliver in front of a fervent home support after their Dublin disappointment.
Two minutes after Russell’s carding, Biggar slotted the drop-goal which ultimately won it for Wales, from 15-yards out and directly in front of the posts. It was as close as a sure thing as you are likely to get, and if he missed then play would have been called back for a penalty to Wales. It was a team effort. No need to pull any flowers out of his backside.
Two teams moulded in the image of their chief playmaker. Scotland set out to absorb pressure through the resilience of their defence (in which Russell made 10 tackles, equal most of any Scottish back alongside Chris Harris) and the belligerence of their breakdown work (much weakened by the unavailability of Jamie Ritchie), then looked to their outstanding backs to inflict decisive wounds with rapier thrusts. Wales played the percentages.
It was a heart-lifting demonstration of a team which needed to win finding a way to do precisely that. Fair play to Wales.
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