1
Finn Russell: Ireland 'the best team in the world'
By Ian Cameron
Scotland flyhalf Finn Russell acknowledged Irelandās rugby supremacy after they clinched the 2024 Guinness Six Nations title with a gritty 17-13 victory against Scotland, declaring them the ābest team in the worldā.
ADVERTISEMENT
Despite a tenacious battle at the Aviva Stadium, it was the Irish who emerged as back-to-back champions on āSuper Saturdayā, much to the delight of the home crowd. The celebrations were doubly sweet as they coincided with St. Patrickās weekend, sparking vibrant revelry across Dublin.
Though not their most dazzling performance, Andy Farrellās squad demonstrated plenty of resolve, none more so then when Andrew Porter crossed the line for a decisive second-half try.
Video Player is loading.
Russell, who has contended with the worldās best ā including South Africa ā within the past few months, had no reservations in hailing Ireland as the worldās number one team, despite the fact that the Boks won the Rugby World Cup and the All Blacks beat Ireland in the quarter-finals of the same tournament.
āI think theyāre brilliant. Theyāre probably the best team in the world.
āMajority of them probably come from Leinster, so theyāre so well aligned. It makes it tough to break them down and find weaknesses in the team.
āHowever, coming to the Aviva when they are have everything on the line, and us putting that performance in. We probably had the chance toā¦ maybe to have won the game if we hadnāt let in a couple of soft tries, maybe we could have won the game, Iām not sure.
āI think they are the best team in the world and this is probably the hardest place to come and get a victory.ā
ADVERTISEMENT
Russell contends that Scotland need a substantial mental shift after their Triple Crown aspirations were thwarted by Ireland. Despite the spirited performance, he lamented Scotlandās erratic play, which led to a disappointing three losses in the tournament from five games.
āToday we are progressing,ā said Russell. āThat mentality we had today and that cohesiveness, especially in defence, was brilliant.
āBut throughout the campaign we need to get mentally stronger. We need to get better and put in performances week in, week out.
ADVERTISEMENT
āWeāve had spells in this competition that weāve been brilliant but at the same time weāve had spells where weāve allowed teams to get on the front foot and get momentum.
āWe are progressing and itās tough only winning two games and saying weāre progressing but this campaign will make us better come the summer, then November and next seasonās Six Nations.
āFrom a personal opinion, I think mentally we need to get a lot better and not drift at moments in the game.
āWe need to be in every moment of the game and thatās a big work on for us.
āToday, we were there for probably 90 per cent of the game, just a couple of moments that allowed Ireland into it. And, probably the best team in the world, you canāt do that over here.ā
Iām thinking that English is closer to your 4th language Rugby but then again you donāt seem bright enough to speak one, let alone moreā¦.
Who told you how to spell Rugby correctly by the way???
Keep up with your alcohol induced rambling Rugby. Itās making you look sillier by the minuteā¦..
A nomination is a sign of excellence
World rugby inductee
He never won it though. Let that sink in after you come back from your badly needed English class. I think youāve also had enough to drink tonight so better knock it on the head and quit while you are WAY behindā¦..
You are wrong
Bula
you understand what I said
World rugby inductee
143 games
Nominated World player 3 times
donāt deflect to language teacher
you are wrong
wrong
pacific Lions
Finn Russell logic: āWorldā = 4 countries.
Ireland may be at or near the top. FRās bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
Finn is right. Ireland are the best team in the World. Boks won the LOTTO Cup, thats it. Ireland trigger all the Bok fans, its hilarious. Every post about Ireland, without any reason for SA presence, is immediately invaded by Safas. Online, social media, its the same. Such an insecure nation.
Lotto cup indeed. You have to be in it to win it.
If youāre at the top of the world rankings then youāre the best in the world. If you slip from there, then youāre not, whether youāre the current RWC holders or otherwise. Winning the tournament is one thing, being consistently good is another.
The most pragmatic person on this site. Thanks Jen.
After the Boks won the 2019 World Cup, I think they remained at world no. 1 for 50 or 60 weeks. Despite winning the RWC and being world no.1 they were trash talked. Even winning a B&I Lions tour was disregarded.
Youād think it was simple - but their are many fools in the mix.
Finn might have a short memory, not sure. I guess it is easier to say after the game in an interview āah look we tried our best but we lost to the best team in the world, in their backyardā rather than āwe lost to the second best team in the worldā (Just using current World Rankings and RWC Results)
Using Finn and the 3 teams in question. Assuming Scotland, Ireland and Boks are consistent. Canāt go back to far in rugby , kind of you as good as your last game.
RWC
Boks 8-13 Ireland (Boks 7-1 split no POLLARD no VERMEULEN)
Boks 18-3 Scotland (Boks 6-2 Split no POLLARD )
6 nations
Scotland 13-17 (Ireland no SEXTON )
Ireland
lost JOHNNY SEXTON (who was just brilliant in the last few years)
maybe also PETER O'MAHONY
Springboks
lost DUANE VERMEULEN
but they will gain DE JAGER who is back playing
they will also have POLLARD and AM.
Springboks also have some new coaching ideas
Jacq lurking in Leinster
Jerry on Board
Rassie has now come out to say he wants to fix a few wrongs.
Turlough this will ramp up I am sure.
Plus Ireland have Joe Biden
I believe SA are best in World. I actually believe NZ are second. Ireland best of rest.
My argument is that World Rugby fix the draw and scheduling so that TV requirements donāt make the tournament into too much of a lottery. Even this year they gave Chile their rest week before the Quarter Final where the chances of it being of any benefit were about 500/1 against.
Itās simple stuff:
Draw- Happens close to tournament so that seeding is relevant.
Schedule- Seeds 4,5 in pool must play in last pool match and not against each other Thatās it fixed. Can be done on cigarette box in 60s.
As for revenue concerns for TV, they should promote the most exciting looking of the Tier1 Vs Tier2 matches for the final weekend. I have been arguing for this literally since the draw/schedule for the 2015 world cup was announced and I learned NZ had a direct call on the schedule of their QTR opponents.
Itās 1980s old manās club, quasi corruption well into the 21st century. Lets sort it FFS.
Reality check. Ireland exited at quarter final once again. Excuses are more numerous than ever. Yesterdays performance against a poor Scottish team(canāt beat Italy) is a clear demonstration of how average they are. I guess the South African tour will settle arguments about number 1 for a while.
You are aware that everyone accepts that the draw which placed the 4 standout favourites against each other in the quarter finals was a farce, and demeaned the tournamentās credibility?
Ireland best in Northern Hemisphere and top 3 in the world, fantastic to watch too. World Cup is the real daddy and it is very very difficult to win the ultimate prize. If Ireland beat the Springboks in the summer tests then a strong argument could be built that Ireland are the ābest teamā in the world. Will see what happens.
Remember how Ireland beat South Africa in 2022 and 2023?
Itās simple really. Whoever wins the biggest trophy in the biggest tournament is considered the worldās best. Itās not rocket science.
I think we can all agree Ireland are going to win the world š cupšļø needing only 13 men
We can agree they beat NZ in a full series pretty easily which some NZers are still pretty pretty sore about.
We should settle this āBest Team in the Worldā thing. Maybe we should have a tournament between all the contenders, and just let them battle it out.
We just did that RWC2023
Add (with a fair draw and scheduling) and you might be onto something!
Ireland are the best team in the world. We nearly beat them, cos them scored soft tries against us. We are the second best team in the world then.
It's a consistent approach by some media and other 6N players, not Irish players that IRE are the best team still. I actually think there is some bitterness here about the WC not going to the NH. Not a good look. Disrespectful to the Boks and ABā s for that matter when they haven't taken the field yet. We will see how good IRE are when they face the Springboks on the highveld in July.
Boks lost to Ireland at the World Cup.
Its not disrespectful, they are entitled to their opinion. I dont agree with it but its not a disrespectful opinion. The issue is the click bait nature of media now.
People love writing cheques they cannot cash.
Very close Finn, but bokke are still the bestā¦