{"id":203535,"date":"2025-06-21T21:48:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T21:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/203535\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T21:48:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T21:48:21","slug":"how-finn-russell-and-johnny-sexton-buried-old-rivalry-for-lions-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/203535\/","title":{"rendered":"How Finn Russell and Johnny Sexton buried old rivalry for Lions tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

High on Andy Farrell\u2019s to-do list this past week, surely, was to manage the defrosting process in the relationship between Finn Russell, his senior fly half, and Johnny Sexton, the Lions kicking coach and someone who\u2019s had plenty to say about Russell in the past \u2014 not all of it complimentary. In order to accelerate the Big Thaw, Farrell has used a couple of methods.<\/p>\n

Sexton helped with some conciliatory words to the media about a player he has variously described as \u201cflashy\u201d and a \u201cmedia darling\u201d, albeit in the context of the Lions\u2019 squad selection four years ago, when Russell was included at the Irishman\u2019s expense. But Farrell knew that more was required.<\/p>\n

According to one of the Lions\u2019 backroom staff, he dealt with the situation in \u201ca typically Faz way\u201d. The details are vague but we\u2019re guessing he would have seen an opportunity to entertain the troops \u2014 maybe to stage a rapprochement before the squad, to break the ice but also to show that no one is allowed take themselves too seriously on these tours. By the end of the week, Russell and Sexton were even featuring in the same back line in training, much to the Scot\u2019s amusement.<\/p>\n

\"Finn<\/p>\n

Russell says there was never an issue with Sexton, right, and is glad to be able to bounce ideas off the Irishman<\/p>\n

BRENDAN MORAN\/SPORTSFILE<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a bit of a crack I suppose,\u201d Russell said on Friday morning, after some of those Lions not featuring against Argentina did some coaching with young fans in Dublin. \u201cIt was never a thing. When we came in, we had a laugh straight away and Andy [Farrell] kind of put it to bed, so that was good.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot that it was ever going to be an issue, I don\u2019t believe. I think we\u2019re all here with the same goal, which is to win the series. I\u2019ve only been here a few days but it\u2019s been good working with Johnny. I\u2019m happy to bounce questions off him and chat to him about what he\u2019s seeing because with the numbers we\u2019ve had he\u2019s had to jump in sometimes. So it\u2019s been quite funny being on the same training side as him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to have a guy with experience here. I can chat to him and bounce things off him as and when I need. All the coaches seem open to have conversations and have chats. It\u2019s a good environment to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n

In normal circumstances, the 32-year-old might be complaining of fatigue. Last week\u2019s Gallagher Premiership final was his 32nd game of the season for club and country and he has averaged 75 minutes per game. Then consider Bath\u2019s riotous celebrations after their victory over Leicester Tigers at Twickenham, which secured their first league title since 1996 and completed a Treble along with the Premiership Rugby Cup and European Challenge Cup titles.<\/p>\n

\"Bath<\/p>\n

Russell enjoyed celebrating Bath\u2019s Treble with Craig, left, and has just signed a new three-year contract extension at the club<\/p>\n

SHUTTERSTOCK EDITORIAL<\/p>\n

Russell looked in top form as the open-top bus made its way through the throngs back in Bath last Sunday \u2014 top off, can of cider in one hand, a wad of cash in the other, brandished for the benefit of a photographer.<\/p>\n

Bath\u2019s owner, Bruce Craig, was alongside him. Russell has just agreed a three-year contract extension at the club. Had he and Craig done a deal while under the influence?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it was signed before that,\u201d Russell says with a smile. \u201cMaybe I should have held off! But no, it\u2019s all good. Sunday was good fun. It was pretty quiet when we arrived back from London. The streets didn\u2019t really have anyone on it and we were sort of laughing as if no one\u2019s really come. Then two hours later or whatever it was, they were packed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really cool actually. I\u2019ve only won something with Glasgow [Warriors] and it was very different celebrations after that. Coming now from a city that\u2019s a rugby city, it was really cool to win a title for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Confession: when the news broke two years ago that Russell would be joining forces with Johann van Graan at Bath, many in the media predicted a disastrous mismatch. How could an instinctive genius like Russell work hand-in-hand with someone whose game plans at Munster had been often rigidly robotic?<\/p>\n

\"Finn<\/p>\n

Russell featured in the Lions\u2019 2021 tour to South Africa, where the games had to be played behind closed doors due to Covid restrictions<\/p>\n

REX<\/p>\n

Clearly we were selling both men short. Whatever about Van Graan\u2019s evolution as a coach, to characterise Russell as some off-the-cuff maverick, a player who trades purely on flashes of creativity, is outdated at best. While Bath have averaged five tries per game in the Premiership, and while Russell is still capable of divine touches, his control of territory has been just as impressive.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s simply a function of getting older, having two kids and settling down, maybe it\u2019s maturity, but Russell now looks a more complete fly half. His comments on the Lions\u2019 playing structure convey his appreciation for the finer tactical details.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a slightly different structure we\u2019re playing in here,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s just where the boys are running and the running lines are different and getting to know them. In terms of the calls, that takes a few days, a few sessions to get into that. I\u2019d like to think that by Monday, it will be out of the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bounce questions off the coaches, on and off the pitch \u2014 small things, like how they want the 10 to release around the back or if they want two or three men off 10, so we get a clear picture of what we want for the weekend. There\u2019s obviously a lot of structure in there but then at times if there\u2019s no structure we\u2019re happy to play unstructured rugby as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having sat out the defeat by Argentina, next Saturday\u2019s game against the Western Force should be Russell\u2019s first opportunity to stake a claim for the Test team \u2014 a crowd of more than 40,000 is predicted for the Optus Stadium in Perth. One advantage he enjoys over Fin Smith is his excellent record against the Wallabies: four wins out of six over the past decade and one of those defeats (the quarter-final in the 2015 World Cup) is generally remembered as a travesty.<\/p>\n

His one experience of playing the Wallabies in Australia was in 2017, when a man-of-the-match display in Sydney earned him a call-up to the Lions as one of the \u201cGeography Six\u201d, that clump of Scots who were drafted in as cover. Combine that with the surreal experience of touring with the \u201cCovid Lions\u201d in South Africa four years ago and you suspect he must be looking forward to a \u201cproper\u201d Lions tour.<\/p>\n

\u201c[New Zealand in 2017] was still amazing because it was my first time being called up to the Lions,\u201d he says. \u201cWe weren\u2019t there for the whole tour, obviously, but I think to have gone there and played was really cool for me. And 2021 was special, even though obviously we couldn\u2019t have family and friends or fans at the games.<\/p>\n

\"Andy<\/p>\n

Russell says Farrell\u2019s message to the players has been to play as yourself and to not overthink things<\/p>\n

SPORTSFILE<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was still amazing in probably a different way. In terms of the boys, we probably got to know each other a little bit better because it was just us in the hotel and what not. Both experiences were good but I\u2019m looking forward to what this one\u2019s going to be like.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Wallabies are going to be better than people think, different to the team we [Scotland] beat in the autumn \u2014 a lot of the same players but a different team. It\u2019s once every 12 years that the Lions go to Australia so I think what that brings out in Australia is something you almost can\u2019t buy. You can\u2019t train that \u2014 that determination, the whole build-up to the series. It\u2019s not the quite the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve spoken about what we want to be and who we represent. But I think the main thing is just going out there and playing as yourself. Don\u2019t overthink it. All the work you\u2019ve done your whole career to get to this spot, that\u2019s what you\u2019ve done your whole career to get here. So don\u2019t change anything, just go out there and be yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The more Russell spoke, the more you heard Farrell\u2019s influence, also the principles that have underpinned the most successful Lions\u2019 ventures: adaptability, self-sacrifice and openness, even to once-hostile rivals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"High on Andy Farrell\u2019s to-do list this past week, surely, was to manage the defrosting process in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-203535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114723560425617990","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}