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Finn Russell: Ireland 'the best team in the world'
By Ian Cameron
Scotland flyhalf Finn Russell acknowledged Ireland’s rugby supremacy after they clinched the 2024 Guinness Six Nations title with a gritty 17-13 victory against Scotland, declaring them the ‘best team in the world’.
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Despite a tenacious battle at the Aviva Stadium, it was the Irish who emerged as back-to-back champions on ‘Super Saturday’, much to the delight of the home crowd. The celebrations were doubly sweet as they coincided with St. Patrick’s weekend, sparking vibrant revelry across Dublin.
Though not their most dazzling performance, Andy Farrell’s squad demonstrated plenty of resolve, none more so then when Andrew Porter crossed the line for a decisive second-half try.
Russell, who has contended with the world’s best – including South Africa – within the past few months, had no reservations in hailing Ireland as the world’s 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.
“I think they’re brilliant. They’re probably the best team in the world.
“Majority of them probably come from Leinster, so they’re so well aligned. It makes it tough to break them down and find weaknesses in the team.
“However, coming to the Aviva when they are have everything on the line, and us putting that performance in. We probably had the chance to… maybe to have won the game if we hadn’t let in a couple of soft tries, maybe we could have won the game, I’m not sure.
“I think they are the best team in the world and this is probably the hardest place to come and get a victory.”
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Russell contends that Scotland need a substantial mental shift after their Triple Crown aspirations were thwarted by Ireland. Despite the spirited performance, he lamented Scotland’s erratic play, which led to a disappointing three losses in the tournament from five games.
“Today we are progressing,” said Russell. “That mentality we had today and that cohesiveness, especially in defence, was brilliant.
“But throughout the campaign we need to get mentally stronger. We need to get better and put in performances week in, week out.
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“We’ve had spells in this competition that we’ve been brilliant but at the same time we’ve had spells where we’ve allowed teams to get on the front foot and get momentum.
“We are progressing and it’s tough only winning two games and saying we’re progressing but this campaign will make us better come the summer, then November and next season’s Six Nations.
“From a personal opinion, I think mentally we need to get a lot better and not drift at moments in the game.
“We need to be in every moment of the game and that’s a big work on for us.
“Today, 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 can’t do that over here.”
Finn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries.
Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s 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.
If you’re at the top of the world rankings then you’re the best in the world. If you slip from there, then you’re not, whether you’re the current RWC holders or otherwise. Winning the tournament is one thing, being consistently good is another.
Finn might have a short memory, not sure. I guess it is easier to say after the game in an interview “ah look we tried our best but we lost to the best team in the world, in their backyard” rather than “we lost to the second best team in the world” (Just using current World Rankings and RWC Results)
Using Finn and the 3 teams in question. Assuming Scotland, Ireland and Boks are consistent. Can’t 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.
Reality check. Ireland exited at quarter final once again. Excuses are more numerous than ever. Yesterdays performance against a poor Scottish team(can’t 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.
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 “best team” in the world. Will see what happens.
It’s simple really. Whoever wins the biggest trophy in the biggest tournament is considered the world’s best. It’s not rocket science.
I think we can all agree Ireland are going to win the world 🌎 cup🗑️ needing only 13 men
We should settle this “Best Team in the World” thing. Maybe we should have a tournament between all the contenders, and just let them battle it out.
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.