As one who always tries to play with a smile on his face, Finn Russell was true to form when asked to explain the cheerful outpourings from the Scotland camp after their defeat by Wales which gave the impression that players do not care sufficiently about the outcome.
Post-match expressions of pride following a third successive losing performance, seemed compounded by social media messaging which suggested that squad members were more concerned with enjoying the occasion than the result, but Russell reckoned there was nothing wrong with Byron McGuigan being pictured arm and arm with Welsh prop Tomas Francis after the game, Darcy Graham marking his home debut or Jonny Gray and Tommy Seymour their landmark appearances.
“For Byron it was his first time back in the jersey since he had been injured, so for him that was a good day. It was Darcy’s first try and first start. Jonny [Gray] and Tommy [Seymour] got their 50th caps,” the stand-off explained.
“We were disappointed, but I thought we played better than in France. We extracted the positives as much as we could.”
That philosophy has been the hallmark of this squad, but Russell acknowledged that they could not be seen to be overly self-congratulatory.
“We need to be hard on ourselves at the right times, look at the negatives, where we need to get better and be honest with each other,” he said.
“Going into the World Cup, we will be looking at this Six Nations and autumn Tests for how we can improve. In sport it’s not always going to be happy and pats on the back. We’re not making a massive deal of negatives as if it’s the end of the world, but we are making sure they get picked up and we do need to get better. At this level it’s about results.
“We’ve not got them in this Six Nations, although we have played some good rugby. We’ve not been as good as we maybe could. We need to stay positive for the week building up. At the same time we know we have to turn pressure and opportunities into wins. We can’t keep getting close and being happy with that.”
The Scots know, too, that this week’s opposing coach, Eddie Jones, is looking to maximise the negative experience he and England’s players suffered last year at Murrayfield with accusations of a roughhouse pre-match approach by Scottish players and claims of over-exuberant celebrations after their win, while a deeply unsavoury incident saw Jones abused by passengers on a train while returning south.
“Maybe it’s Eddie being Eddie,” said Russell. “I don’t really know him so I’m not sure. That’s all a year ago now, so surely he’s not holding a grudge from that long ago, but you never know.”
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