Russell’s Six Nations involvement to be reassessed after England game, says Townsend

Gregor Townsend has spoken to Finn Russell and informed the player he will reassess his place in Scotland’s squad after the Calcutta Cup clash against England.

Fly-half Russell was omitted for Scotland’s Six Nations opener against Ireland, which they lost 19-12, after being disciplined for a “breach of team protocol”. He was also not considered for the clash with Eddie Jones’ men, which takes place on Saturday.

Adam Hastings will start at 10 in Edinburgh in place of Russell, who had a disagreement with head coach Townsend after last year’s dramatic 38-38 draw with England at Twickenham.

Scotland have a two-week break coming up before facing Italy in Rome and Russell’s place in the squad will be discussed before that fixture.

“I spoke to [Russell] on Sunday night to let him know we wouldn’t be making any changes to the squad and that I would reassess after this weekend’s game,” Townsend told a news conference.

When asked if the chat was positive, Townsend replied: “It was a conversation. It was to tell him he wasn’t in the squad for this week and we would look at things next week.”

Townsend was reluctant to discuss what Russell will have to do to be considered but says there is a chance he will be involved in the remaining rounds of the tournament.

“I’d rather not discuss that here. We’ve got a big game at the weekend and I want to be talking about the 23 that will be involved in that game,” Townsend said.

“Of course [he could feature in the tournament], just as there’s a chance Sam Skinner, Matt Fagerson, guys that have been injured, are back available to us in the next couple of weeks.”

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