Finn Russell shares thoughts on Racing future after Lancaster deal

Finn Russell has shared his thoughts on his contract situation at Racing 92, the French club where ex-England coach Stuart Lancaster will take over for the 2023/24 season. The 30-year-old Scotland international’s current deal expires next June at the Parisian club he joined in 2018 from Glasgow and his next move has been the subject of much speculation in recent weeks.

The out-half has now addressed these rumours, Russell telling rugbyrama.fr: “Are you really sure that I’m going to leave? My agent is coming to spend a few days in France to discuss my situation. Nothing is really settled yet.

“I love France, I enjoy every minute here and I don’t know if I want it to stop. I learned French and since then my experience of everyday life has not been the same at all. In my eyes, the journey is not over. I’m not in a rush. Stay? Leave? We’ll see what happens in the next few months.”

Asked when he knows about Lancaster, who will be arriving at Racing from Leinster, Russell added: “I don’t know him personally but he gives Leinster a dynamic, spectacular and effective game. Racing was not mistaken in its casting.”

Russell has started all five of the matches Racing have so far played in this season’s Top 14. It’s a busy period but one that he is enjoying, unlike last year when he suffered when picking up the thread in France after being away in South Africa with the British and Irish Lions until August.

“I feel good right now. I’m fresh, fit. I have regained my level of play. My last season wasn’t satisfactory and I suffered from it. But I understood why and I adapted. It was my choice but I played too many matches last season. I had come home tired from the British Lions tour in South Africa, I had hardly rested after those games and my body didn’t really support that pace.

“I now try to talk to the coaches in a more open way, to tell them openly that I sometimes need a rest and they understand that. I can’t play every game. It’s neither good for me nor for the club. Today, the fatigue that plagued me last season has disappeared. My relationship with Laurent Travers is only better. We all learned from last season.”