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Gloucester-tormentor Finn Russell returns for Bath
By Jon Newcombe
Finn Russell, who put in an excellent post-Six Nations performance against Gloucester in the league three weeks ago, is back from a week’s holiday to take on the Cherry & Whites in the EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-finals this Sunday.
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While Russell has ousted Ciaran Donoghue from the fly-half berth, his 22-year-old understudy has been rewarded for his Player of the Match display in the Round of 16 win against Pau with a place at full-back.
With Joe Cokanasiga injured, Tom de Glanville has been shifted to the wing on his return to the side, while Will Muir completes the back three on the left flank.
In addition to De Glanville and Russell, who is partnered by captain Ben Spencer, Cam Redpath is back to to link up with Will Butt in midfield.
The front row is unchanged from last weekend with Archie Griffin playing alongside hooker Tom Dunn and fellow prop Beno Obano, both of whom scored in that impressive 49-24 away victory against Pau.
Similarly, the second-row combination of Quinn Roux and Ross Molony remains the same. However, it’s all change in the back row with Ethan Staddon and Ted Hill on the flanks and Alfie Barbeary coming in at No8.
Bath Rugby vs Gloucester, KO 17:30, Sunday, April 13th: 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Archie Griffin, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Ross Molony, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Ethan Staddon, 8 Alfie Barbeary, 9 Ben Spencer ©, 10 Finn Russell, 11 Will Muir, 12 Will Butt, 13 Cameron Redpath, 14 Tom de Glanville, 15 Ciaran Donoghue. Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Josh Bayliss, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Max Ojomoh, 23 Jaco Coetzee.
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Not seeing a huge amount of hype around Donoghue (yet), but he could be playing himself into contention for a squad place with England this summer!
Fly-half is somewhere England could do with a bit of depth. Ford won’t be around forever, and Marcus is nowhere near the level of Fin. Given Donoghue is also able to play 15, he could be an excellent back up option.
It also feels significant that Will Butt is starting ahead of Ojomoh. I said at the start of the 6N that Butt could potentially start for England at 12 in the near future, but the general consensus seemed to be that he was behind Ojomoh in the pecking order - that might not be the case!