Finn Russell says Six Nations glory with Scotland would be peak of his career

By Anthony Brown, Press Association

Scotland talisman Finn Russell is intent on pulling off the greatest accomplishment of his career in Ireland on ‘Super Saturday’ – with a little help from bitter rivals England.

The Scots’ stunning 50-40 victory over France at Murrayfield on Saturday has left them in a three-way shootout for the Guinness Six Nations title with Les Bleus and Ireland.

A bonus-point win in Dublin will put Gregor Townsend’s resurgent side in line for a first-ever Six Nations triumph if France fail to get a bonus-point victory against England in Paris.

“I’ve won a few titles, but winning something with Scotland, especially the Six Nations, would definitely be the peak of my career,” said Bath stand-off Russell.

“When you start playing for Scotland, you always want to win it. We’ve never put ourselves in a position where we can win it. Now we’re in that position, it’s all to play for this weekend.

“It’ll definitely be up there as the top thing in my career if we can win it.

“It’s new territory for us going into the last game with a chance to win it.

“There will be a lot more outside noise after putting 50 points on France, but as long as we can keep that outside the circle and not let it get to us, that’s the main thing.”

Asked if he felt Scotland were equipped to deal with such a high-stakes showdown in Dublin against an Ireland side they have not defeated since 2017, Russell said: “Yeah, I think we’re ready.

“We know what’s on the line now. But we don’t want to build it up to something and let ourselves get carried away or let the occasion get to us.”

Scotland’s destiny is not in its own hands as France still boasts a vastly superior points difference.

Whoever wins the Triple Crown decider at Aviva Stadium in the first match of the day will face an anxious wait to learn if England can do them a favour in Paris that evening.

“We can’t really start thinking about that until we’ve actually had the performance we’re looking for (against Ireland),” said Russell when asked if he had ever been cast as an England fan before.

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“All eyes will be on the England-France game after the game. But we need to make sure we get it right so that we actually have a point to watch that game.”

Russell said Saturday’s seven-try victory over France, in which they led 47-14 early in the final quarter, was “definitely up there” as one of his best days as a Scotland player.

The Scots have now won three in a row since head coach Gregor Townsend came under intense pressure after losing the championship opener against Italy on the back of a difficult autumn.

“Definitely a lot of credit to Gregor in terms of the belief that he’s had in us,” said Russell. “There was a lot of pressure on us throughout this tournament after November and then after Italy.

“But it’s so important that we’ve all stuck together. We’re not the finished product at all, but we’re building in the right direction.”