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Finn Russell excluded, struggling England man in: Ex-Bok boss' Lions 10s
By Josh Raisey
Former South Africa and Italy head coach Nick Mallett would not pick Scotland co-captain Finn Russell for the British and Irish Lions later this year, insisting the fly-half “makes too many mistakes”.
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The Bath and Scotland star, who is many people’s favourite to start in the Lions No.10 jersey against the Wallabies, has had a quiet start to his Guinness Six Nations so far having been forced from the field after 20 minutes against Ireland a week after a below-par performance against Italy.
Appearing on RugbyPass TV’s latest episode of Boks Office, the South African said he would “definitely” pick former England captain Owen Farrell, who is ineligible to represent his country while playing in the Top 14 for Racing 92. Those restrictions do not apply to the Lions though, and despite experiencing a less-than-ideal first season in Paris, Mallett has backed him to make his fourth tour.
Despite neither having ten caps to their name yet, the former Springbok said he would pick Ireland’s Sam Prendergast and England’s Fin Smith as the two fly-halves alongside Farrell, saying “you know what you get from those three”.
The Englishman and Irishman are fresh from both collecting player of the match gongs in victories over France and Scotland, respectively, and would have immeasurably boosted their Lions chances with those performances- enough to oust Russell in Mallett’s eyes.
“I don’t think I’d take Russell on the Lions,” he said. “I think he’d be bad for the squad if he’s in the squad and not starting.
“Go Farrell, Fin Smith and Prendergast. Fin Smith will be good enough too, but Farrell definitely. You know what you get from those three.
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“If you take [Russell] he’s got to start, he’s got to be your playmaker and unfortunately I think he makes too many mistakes at 10 for my liking. He blows hot and cold and everyone’s very excited when he does a reverse pass out the back but when it gets intercepted or goes directly into touch it’s just not good.”
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In reality when it comes to the time that the Lions squad is named, I predict that Sam Prendergast, Finn Smith and Jack Crowley will be the three outside half backs named in the squad. On current form they are the ones that have one foot on the plane however I can’t say that any particular one of them will be the certain first choice starter but if it was up to me I’d pick Prendergast to start with Finn Smith on the bench. If Andy Farrell wants to bring a fourth choice player for the 10 jersey, it’ll be one of three that he’ll choose from - Finn Russell or Marcus Smith or Ciaran Frawley. The best bet in this scenario would be Frawley. Farrell knows him well and knows that in a clutch moment he can deliver. Finn Russell is too unpredictable both onfield and off the pitch. He’s talented, no doubt about that but he’s very prone to silly errors. Marcus Smith is excellent in the 10 jersey at club level but he just doesn’t have it at international level. He just hasn’t stepped up from club level. I’m aware that I make this comment in the full knowledge that Owen Farrell is also available to travel and while he’s not playing for England at the moment it’s very unlikely that he’ll be picked to travel but stranger things have happened I wouldn’t be surprised if he went too.
Fin Smith will likely go on England’ summer tour rather than the Lions tour. And rightly so. England's tour is far more important.
NB I have never been a fan of the Lions and look forward to supporting Australia this summer.
It's a bit premature to be inking in Fin Smith over Russell in my eyes. Don't get me wrong, you may well be right about the 3 flyhalves who go. I can see a world where Russell gets left out but Russell is a successful and seasoned test flyhalf who is having a dip in form. Last year Russell was one of the best flyhalves in the world and Bath are top of the premiership. Fin Smith so far has played 1 half of excellent test rugby and 1 poor half of test rugby. I've got high hopes for Fin and hopefully by the end of the tournament he will have cemented that place but let's not get ahead of ourselves. 🙂
This is utter claptrap! Maybe a couple of years ago this is true but now the risk reward with Russell is very good and game management skills are on another level.
Owen Farrell is out of form and has always been massively overrated - he did well in a negative English system. He is also a thug (see tackle on Watson in the 2015 prem final for an example).
Russell is still number 1 and F.Smith and Prendergast should also be in the squad. M.Smith is how Russell used to be but I wouldn't pick him for England right now.
People have short memories. Russell has had a few mediocre games but not long ago he was possibly the best ten in the world with a very low error count and excellent game management.
I think that Finn’s problem is not not that he lacks the skills but he looks and behaves very arrogantly from what I observe on TV. To me he gives off an air of ‘could not care less’ and all he needs to add is the shrug of the shoulder. Don’t forget he and Gregor were at odds for quite a while (also he played in France and was not eligible) and I think the attitude I see is symptomatic of that problem. He has suppressed any angst with his coach to get into the Scots team. No doubt he has talent in abundance and is very clever but lose the attitude and play as a team member and he could be a Scotland great. Like his coach ?
His form has dipped but last season his mistakes were few and far between. When he was young he was very hot and cold but until just recently he was consistently just red hot. He's developed from a mercurial passing genius into a very rounded ten with an excellent kicking game. I hope he can get back there, he deserves to go on the tour although his play style probably doesn't fit with the ruthlessly efficient Irish style.
I raised this with friends last week who weren’t convinced. But if you look at Farrells record, and the recent promotion of Prendergast ahead of Crowley, it’s obvious that he favours a game manager at 10, and both Prendergast and F Smith are far better fits for that style than Russell and M Smith. I also agree that Russell’s error count is too high at the moment. It’s not that Farrell is a conservative coach, but rather that he is a very good one who puts together a blended team of players who complement each other. Don’t be surprised if there are a few unexpected picks of non Irish players in whom he sees the qualities he’s looking for.