Source link : https://rugby-247.com/2024/11/19/wallabies-on-guard-for-scottish-maverick-russell/
The Wallabies are wary of the influence of Scotland flyhalf Finn Russell as they push to keep their Grand Slam hopes alive.
Russell is a one-of-a-kind player who has guided Scotland to new heights since his debut a decade ago.
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The 32-year-old is arguably the favourite to start for the British and Irish Lions in next year’s Wallabies tour, building off his lone appearance in 2021.
Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White got a taste of what expect from Russell during his time in Exeter and was well aware of the danger he possessed.
“Quite simply, you don’t stop a guy like that. What you can do is try and limit his options, try and limit his impact on the game,” he told reporters
“…They’ve got an absolute maverick of a 10 that can throw the ball, whether it’s Finn Russell or (Adam) Hastings but if it’s Finn Russell, he’s pretty special.”
Russell headlines a Scotland backline that has quietly emerged as one of the more damaging line-ups in World Rugby.
Winger Duhan van der Merwe has back-to-back Six Nations Tries of the Year and is contesting fellow speedster Darcy Graham for the top Scottish try-scorer in history.
Graham equalled van der Merwe’s record in last week’s win over Portugal as he scored his 13th try in eight games.
Coupled with the combination of Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones in the midfield has the Wallabies primed for the challenge ahead of them on Monday.
“It’s impossible to take out world-class players like that out of a game. (Russell) just that classy and they’ve got a number of guys like that that are world-class in their side,” White said.
“We’ve got to try and limit their moments and I think the really big focus is on ourselves at the moment.
“We’ve got a back line with many threats, so it’ll be an exciting game and we’ve just got to continue to focus on ourselves. They’ll have seen the way we’ve played the last couple of weeks no doubt and want to slow the ball down and make the ruck pretty messy. They’ve got some guys that can do that within the forwards and the backs.”
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2024-11-20 04:34:46
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