Finn Russell has done what Scotland supporters have spent a generation waiting for their team to do: walk out of a draining Cardiff afternoon with a Six Nations win, a path back into the title race, and a quiet argument that Gregor Townsend's side still belongs in the conversation at the top of the tournament.
Scotland's 26-23 victory over Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday was anything but smooth. The visitors trailed at half-time after a first-half mauling at the breakdown, and Russell, the player who so often sets Scotland's tempo, admitted afterwards that there had been moments of real doubt. "Wales did put us under a lot of pressure," he said. "I think it was good though that we kept our cool and kind of stuck to what we spoke about all week in the game plan, and it paid off in the end."
Russell, who on Saturdays can often sound louder than his coach, offered a pointed compliment to his opponents. "For Wales, that was the best performance I've seen them have for a while now," he said. "So it was good to have been able to wear that first half and then get into it and end up winning the game in the second half."
Asked whether there was ever any genuine doubt in Cardiff, Russell did not try to package the answer. "There definitely is doubt," he said. "They were so good at contesting the ball and stopping us getting quick ball, and they got a lot of turnovers. So at half-time that's the main message, sort the ruck out and the attack's going to take care of itself, kind of thing. There's obviously doubt when you're behind at half-time, you're away from home, and Wales are playing as well as they were."
The half-time message from Gregor Townsend, Russell said, was less philosophical than it had been against England a week earlier, and more technical. "It was all about the ruck and the contact," he said. "First half especially, Wales were going a lot of picking goes through the middle of us. We weren't actually hitting them. We were kind of absorbing a lot of that. When we were carrying, they were probably the aggressors and actually taking us. So the main point at half-time was being more physical at the ruck especially, and then also when carrying."
For a player who rarely concedes the moral high ground, Russell was disarmingly honest about Scotland's body language in the opening 40. "Wales probably came out there more desperate, more emotional that first half," he said. "Second half we managed to turn it around but it's still a work on. We can go off the high of England playing as well as we did to then drop off physically and emotionally like we did that first half."
With Ireland dismantling England at the Aviva earlier in the day, Russell quickly pivoted to what the afternoon's other result meant for Scotland. "Since last week especially, and this week now, the tournament's wide open," he said. "I don't know how France will go tomorrow against Italy. That'll be a hard game. Italy are playing really well. But I think the France game will be massive for us. One thing we've kind of spoken about this campaign is not looking at that Ireland game, not getting to France and being like, let's look at Ireland a week ahead. Let's just make sure we get it right for the France game."
Pressed on the potential of Scotland's first-ever Triple Crown in the Six Nations era, Russell was cautious without being fake. "Yeah, definitely," he said. "I think Ireland are a brilliant side. A lot of us know Faz and their coaching staff and players now after the summer. People are kind of overlooking Ireland this campaign. They'll be at home. We're playing for the triple crown. It's going to be massive for us, but it'll be huge for them as well."
Asked whether the modern Six Nations simply hurts more than November internationals, Russell's answer might please his medical team. "There's much more emotional and much more mental stress in the Six Nations than there is in November," he said. "Physically and emotionally, boys were a lot more tired this week than they have been in our November series."
On the drive home, his priorities looked unusually restrained. "I've got Chris Harris's daughter's third birthday tomorrow," he said. "I don't know if I'll fancy being hungover for that." Two weeks off, then France. And then, if Townsend's side finds another level, the ground Scotland has not stood on in decades.
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*Originally published on [Rugby News Online](https://rugbynews.online/article/never-in-doubt-big-jim-finn-russell-on-scotland-s-gritty-welsh-escape-and-t-f2792d). Visit for full coverage.*
