Scotland’s 2020 Six Nation’s tournament is threatening to derail into a shambles as the story of Russell’s exclusion from the squad continues.
As sad as it is to go on about, and as much as coach Townsend is desperately trying to distance his squad from it, due to a procession of communication errors that began as far back as December last year and were not handled by either the SRU or the management of the national team, Scotland’s star fly-half will most likely not take part in the 2020 Six Nations to the detriment of the players, the squad and the nation.
– England win Calcutta Cup; match report
– Tournament preview; Scotland’s Six Nations
Complete communication failure
In one corner you have Finn Russell saying the on-going argument with coach Gregor Townsend is about; “control, respect and trust, on and off the pitch.” In the other corner Townsend says every player in the squad; “has to align to certain team standards and values”.
The two differing opinions are the catalysts for a conflict that started over a disagreement about a player wanting a third beer with his meal, to omission from the starting-15, exile from the squad, and in the latest sorry turn, an ill-advised “my side of the story” whine to the national press.
If you look at the facts that have been given, the reason for this power struggle between player and coach comes down to lack of communication.
Timeline of events
(Extracted from information given in an interview between Gregor Townsend and BBC Scotland’s Tom English)
13/10/19 – Scotland knocked out of World Cup by Japan
—Feedback opportunities about coaching given to players
—Russell does not respond
Dec 19 – Townsend “catches-up” with Russell in Paris
After Christmas – follow-up phone calls take place between Russell and Townsend where Russell expresses his criticisms of the management
—Townsend decides to set up a meeting with Russell which fails to materialise
19/01/20 – Scotland Six Nation squad meet-up. Russell is told by players and management not to order a third beer to have with his meal
20/01/20 – Meeting between Townsend and Russell which Townsend describes as “very positive”
—Russell told he will be omitted from training Tuesday (21st) and reintegrated on Thursday (23rd)
—Russell leaves squad somewhere in this period
01/02/20 – Scotland lose round one of the Six Nations to Ireland 19-12
02/02/20 – (Sunday night) Townsend tells Russell he will be omitted from the Calcutta Cup match
07/02/20 – Townsend and Russell arrange to meet after England game (11th or 12th)
08/02/20 – England win Calcutta cup 13-6
11pm Townsend is told Russell has done an interview with The Times which is being published tomorrow
09/02/20 – Russell interview in The Times
10/02/20 – SRU responds to interview, releasing video of Townsend explaining his side of the story
When the series of events are boiled down the situation looks bad for everyone.
Russell’s poor show
Russell’s less than enthusiastic approach at dealing with a topic it’s now been revealed he is clearly so passionate about, which he could have discussed as far back as October last year, reflects poorly on the player.
Townsend having to put up with repercussions of the players actions as late as 11pm after a Calcutta match is rather shocking and the Russell camp’s decision to agree to meet with Townsend on the 11th or 12th in a conversation they had on the 7th and simultaneously do an interview with the Times, which is published on the 9th, borders on despicable.
Townsend’s fatal mistake
The fundamental flaw of Gregor Townsend’s conduct in this saga is not nailing down a meeting and clearing the air with Russell months before the Six Nations Campaign begun.
While Russell’s catalogue of errors are extensive – drinking, missing meetings, walking out, and being partisan to what looks like deceptive behaviour – this could have all been avoided if Townsend had met with Russell before the tournament and the pair hammered it out behind closed doors.
Now the SRU is back peddling, putting together an out-of-character video on their website inconspicuously titled “Update from Gregor Townsend” and demeaning their coach by making him sit through a PR staged interview looking vaguely ill.
Player power now in rugby
The saddest thing of all of this is that the squad has performed admirably so far in the Six Nations, giving-up only two tries against two of their toughest opponents who last season scored a combined total of eight against the dark blues.
Townsend has acted tactfully and dignified in the whole sorry mess. The furthest he has come to criticising Russell in public is by saying he was “disappointed” with the comments made by the fly-half. One imagines Townsend was using different words and perhaps a few actions to describe Finn’s behaviour when at 11pm, having just lost the Calcutta Cup, he found out Russell had gone to the papers with a ‘he said/she said’ narrative.
Will the RFU back their stoic coach against the star stand-off? The correct answer would be yes, but in doing that they might not see Russell in a Scotland jersey again. And that might be a loss too great to take.
Scotland play Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Sat 22nd Feb, KO 14:15.
Harry Jamshid Reporter Sports Pages 