Finn Russell gets strong defence from teammate after Scotland v New Zealand showing

Last weekend’s 43-21 defeat to New Zealand at Murrayfield will not go down as an all-time Finn Russell masterclass.

The 34-year-old didn’t have a particularly bad afternoon, but the stand-off was unable to produce the trademark magic that would have been pivotal to securing a historic first ever win over the All Blacks. He was replaced after just 62 minutes, with Tom Jordan given a chance to show his worth in the fly-half position.

Despite such a showing compared to the former Glasgow Warriors and Racing 92 playmaker’s incredibly high standards, Russell has been tipped to bounce back by one of his Bath teammates. National team head coach Gregor Townsend warned that no-one is “undroppable” but back row specialist Josh Bayliss made his feelings clear on what the 95 times capped stand-off brings to the team.

“He’s such an attacking threat” - Bath and Scotland teammate backs Finn Russell to regain top form against Wallabies

“He's the best player in the world,” Bayliss said in no uncertain terms. “He's such an attacking threat. He sees the game so differently, I think, than anyone I've played with before.

“Just watching him from the bench in the first half, I think he's fishing out New Zealand defenders and I think he put Shuggy [Huw Jones] through about two or three times. He's so critical to our performances, to our game and to the team culture and us as a whole. And he always has an impact on a game, whether it's visible or invisible. He's a massive part of this.”

After the disappointment of failing to record the historic win they so desired against the All Blacks, the attention now turns to the visit of Australia to Edinburgh this weekend. It will be Scotland’s second of four Test matches this November as part of the inaugural Nations Championship tournament.

“We've got a good record against them,” said Bayliss in the aftermath of the New Zealand game on Saturday. “But for us, I think it's head down and work hard this week. If we can get our game right, we know we've got enough to beat any team in the world.

“So, that's what the focus is going to be on. It's going to be on us and then getting back out here at Murrayfield next weekend and see what we can do.

“Everyone will look at their individual performances. We'll come back together as a team. We don't play until next Sunday, so we'll have a couple of days just to sort of relax and try and get our heads away from rugby before we come back in.

“It's going to be all eyes on Australia and take the learnings and the disappointment from this weekend and translate it onto the training paddock first half of next week and then onto the pitch, hopefully, next Sunday.”

That match will be the first meeting of the two nations since a 27-13 victory for the Scots at Murrayfield in November 2024. That is a result that Bayliss looks back on fondly with the 29-year-old amongst the try scorers.

“Any time I get to put a shirt on and run out at Murrayfield is pretty special,” he added. “But yes, that was a special moment in my career. It's just one of those things, I was lucky enough to get on the end of Darcy's pass and then managed to get over in the corner, but there's plenty of times when I would have been bundled into touch or something.”

Get our rugby newsletter by clicking here