Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Finn Russell on his 'jokey' Messi comment that has now gone viral

(L-R) Stephen Varney, Seb Negri, Finn Russell, Marcus Smith and Ellis Genge attend the world premiere of "Six Nations: Full Contact" at Frameless on January 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images)

Finn Russell could never be described as shy and the Netflix producers clearly loved his openness with the opening episode released today (Wednesday) leading to a social media frenzy around his own comparisons with football great Messi.

ADVERTISEMENT

Back in Edinburgh after the Netflix red carpet treatment, and readying for a pre-Six Nations camp with the Scotland squad in Spain, he was his usual laid back self, and laughed when asked if he was worried he had opened a can of worms by inviting comparisons with the Argentinian megastar.

“Similarities between me and Messi? What, really? We wear No 10 and that’s about it,” he laughed.

“I was asked to describe myself for a non-rugby fan, and I jokingly said I’d be like Messi if you were a football fan – and that’s just taken off by the looks of it. It’s seemed to get blown up out of the series, hasn’t it? Making headlines from a passing comment….”

Of course, Messi has won a World Cup, aged 35…?

“I know, I know. Shame I can’t say the same,” said the 31-year-old. “He’s certainly won a lot more trophies than I have. But I’ve got a couple more [World Cups] in me – two more to potentially get it. We’ll see. We need to win a Six Nations first, don’t we?

“It was just a kind of jokey comment, but I suppose you see the way he plays he sets up a lot of boys. I wouldn’t say I was at his level … but I suppose it’s a similar position!”

The two do share the number 10 and while it is invidious anyway to compare rugby and football players’ on-field talents, many might suggest that Russell is to Scotland what Messi is to Argentina, in the sense of a player of rare skill who has the ability to unlock the best defences in the game and inspire a nation. Russell has made an immediate impact at his new club Bath, bringing a new attacking incision to their play, and while they weren’t able to knock over French giants Toulouse at the weekend, typically he feels he and his teammates took only confidence from the intensity of the game. Now, the former Racing 92 star remains confident of helping Scotland to compete for the Six Nations title in the coming weeks.

ADVERTISEMENT

“My game has probably changed a little bit from going to England – it’s slightly different to France,” he said. “Maybe having a kid and growing up a bit has changed me as well.

“The World Cup was a learning curve for me, and then moving to another team, becoming the starting 10, solidifying my place and taking control of that team – that has changed me again. I’d say in the last 18 months there have been quite a few changes in my life, and that has maybe changed me as a player as well.”

The biggest challenge he faces in what will be his ninth Six Nations tournament, and first as captain, alongside Rory Darge, may be how he finds the freedom to conduct Scotland’s attack when so much analysis has been produced on him by each of the championship teams over the past decade. On one hand Scotland will attract envious glances from some opponents for having a very settled squad. On the other, does it mean there is little opportunity to surprise, Russell’s stock in trade?

“Having the team we’ve got, we’ve been playing together for the last few years so we’ve got that continuity,” he acknowledged. “I know what Sione is going to do outside of me; I know what Shuggy [Huw Jones] or Cam [Redpath] are going to do at 13; I know what Blair’s going to do – we’re all on the same page as each other.

ADVERTISEMENT
Six Nations: Full Contact premiere
(L-R) Laura Woods, Ellis Genge, Finn Russell and James Gay-Rees take part in a Q&A during the world premiere of the Netflix documentary “Six Nations: Full Contact” at Frameless on January 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/Getty Images for Six Nations)

“I know opposition coaches are analysing us and trying to work out how to break us down in defence and attack. They might know that I like to show and go on the inside or that I like short attacking kicks, but it comes down to us as individuals, seeing the space, picking the right options at the time; how we defend and us knowing what the opposition are going to do too.

“With modern technology and the analysis tools we’ve got you can look at everything from the last five years on how Scotland have played, but coming into this tournament we’ll be putting a few different things in place, a few different moves, some tactics that are going to be different.

“The first and second games are always hard to preview the opposition because you don’t know what will be changing, especially off the back of a World Cup.”

Of course, Russell and Scotland had a rude awakening at the recent World Cup as their attack was severely blunted by Ireland and South Africa. Ireland took a novel approach by doing the reverse of most other teams and, instead of putting several players on Russell, they stood off the fly-half just a little and gave him a fraction more time, before then sending runners swarming to the source of his pass.

“A lot of teams will have a look at the World Cup, a debrief on what went well, what went wrong and how it can get better, and the coach will have time away, going to other clubs and chatting to them,” agreed Russell.

“Definitely [we can learn from the Ireland defeat], and how we can get better from that, whether it’s the attacking side of it or the defensive side – as a whole but also individually. But it goes both ways. If they’re analysing us and how they can break us down, we’ll be analysing ourselves but also them. Every team does it and just because we’ve been together for a few years I don’t think it gives the opposition much of an advantage.

“I love people coming for me or trying to shut me down. As a 10 you’re always going to get hit after you pass. You’re the main playmaker and some teams think if you can shut the 10 down you can shut the attack down, which isn’t always the case. It can put you under more pressure but it will open space somewhere else. Then it’s just how quickly you can find that space and figure out their defensive system to then unlock it.”

For a moment, we see inside the astute tactical brain of Russell, but it doesn’t last long as captain or not he rarely loses his jokey side. The wide smile returns as he adds: “If a team decides to send someone through the middle to take out the 10 then I’ll figure out a way to counter that. It’s part of the fun of the game. You’re figuring out the defences as you go and you’ve got 80 minutes to do it. Whichever team manages to do it usually wins!”

Related

ADVERTISEMENT

England A vs Ireland A | Full Match Replay

HSBC SVNS Vancouver | Men's Day Three Highlights

HSBC SVNS Vancouver | Women's Day Three Highlights

"I would love to play with Siya Kolisi" | HSBC Life on Tour | Vancouver

Kubota Spears vs Shizuoka BlueRevs | JRLO 2024/2025 | Full Match Replay

Behind the Scenes with the Stars of the Kenya Rugby Sevens Team | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 7

O2 Inside Line: This Rose | Episode 3 | France Week

Watch now: Lomu - The Lost Tapes

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

b
bryan li wong 33 minutes ago
Chiefs head coach apologises to midfielder on 50th appearance

HOW CAN I RECOVER MY LOST CRYPTO (BTC, USDT) investment.

It's very easy when you contact: Trojanhack@qualityservice.com

Hi Guys, I'm Bryan Li wong from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ok let me start this way.

Though At first i was very skeptical when a friend Davies Frank from Chicago Illinois told me about them and how they were able to help him recovered his Crypto Loss during the Covid 19 pandermic.

I was a victim of a Fake Forex Trading Guru Investment online in 2023 and i was so gullible to get scammed to the tone of 254,650 USDT. i believed them after seeing multiples of their trade result online. little did i know they were all scam and i was so foolish to fell for such stunt. i got depressed and my whole world was shattered as a result of my heavy mistakes.

I couldnt' withdraw my USDT profit from them. they came up with stories and they kept demanding for more and more from me and it was them i confirmed further they were syndicates.

it was such a terrible and ugly ordeals i went through.

After contacting TROJANHACK CYBER SECURITY COMPANY, i experienced a life changing recovery process, they were able to trace and recovered all for me within 4 days.

Their team are the best and very good at what they do. which if not could have been my life's greatest mishap. I am forever indebted to this reputable company (TROJANHACK CYBER SECURITY COMPANY) and i know there are thousands of people who are undergoing same situation as mine and for that reason i'd be listing their contact details once again which are as follows:

Email: Trojanhack@qualityservice.com

Whatsapp: +1 8 0 2 681 3837

Telegram: @Trojanhackqservice

1 Go to comments
D
Dominique Wilburn 1 hour ago
Rassie Erasmus names Springboks squad of 56 for March meet-up

It started with a dream—a dream of financial independence, of escaping the grind and securing a future for my family. Like many others, I was drawn to the world of cryptocurrency. The stories of people striking it rich with Bitcoin were everywhere, and I thought, why not me? That’s when I stumbled upon an online investment platform promising astronomical returns. I invested a substantial amount of my savings, believing I was on the path to financial freedom.But within weeks, everything fell apart. The platform vanished overnight. Emails bounced back, phone numbers were disconnected, and my funds were gone. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. The weight of my mistake was crushing I had not only lost my savings but also jeopardized my family’s future. I was drowning in guilt, anger, and despair, unsure of where to turn.That’s when I found Washington Recovery Pro. At first, I was skeptical. How could anyone recover money from anonymous Bitcoin scammers? But I was desperate, and I decided to give them a shot,from the moment I reached out, Washington Recovery Pro was different. They listened to my story with genuine empathy and assured me that they had helped countless others in my situation.They specialized in tracing cryptocurrency transactions, uncovering the identities of scammers, and working with international authorities to recover stolen funds. Their transparency gave me hope. Finally, the breakthrough came. They had traced my funds to a series of wallets and identified the individuals behind the scam. Through their network of legal and law enforcement partners, they initiated a recovery process.The day I received the news that a significant portion of my funds had been recovered was one of the happiest of my life. Washington Recovery Pro had not only given me back my money but also restored my faith in justice.Reach out to them Via..

 Email~WashingtonRecoveryPro@engineer.com WhatsApp ~‪+1 (903) 249‑8633‬ Telegram ~https://t.me/Washingtonrecoverypro

4 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Brendan Fanning: 'Wales have been insulted by the degree of arrogance abroad on this side of the Irish Sea.' Brendan Fanning: 'Wales have been insulted by the degree of arrogance abroad on this side of the Irish Sea.'
Search