Finn Russell expects his Scotland teammates to come in with late hits and other nefarious tactics to “wind him up” when Bath host Edinburgh in their decisive Investec Champions Cup pool clash this weekend.
Bath welcome Edinburgh to the Rec on Friday evening in what is essentially a straight shootout for top spot in Pool 2, which would guarantee home games in the knockout rounds all the way until the semi-final.
Russell, who began his career at Edinburgh’s bitter rivals Glasgow Warriors before moving to French side Racing 92 in 2018 and then to Bath five years later, will likely be pulling the strings at No 10 for the English side.
Meanwhile, the Edinburgh squad is full of players he will be lining up alongside in three weeks’ time when Scotland travel to Rome to face Italy in their Six Nations opener, which the 33-year-old admits adds an extra layer of bragging rights to Friday’s contest.
“I got a little bit off the Edinburgh players when we played them last season,” explained Russell. “It’s all good fun and all part of the game.
“I played against Edinburgh a lot of times when I was at Glasgow and I’ve played with a lot of their players with Scotland. I know these boys from camp so well.
“It’s always good fun playing against boys you know because there’s always bragging rights before the Six Nations. If they win or we win, we wind each other up. Hopefully we’ll get the win on Friday night. If not it’ll be quite a rough [Six Nations] camp.
“I imagine there will be a couple of late shots, getting held on the ground - that kind of stuff, which is always the case against players you know.”
Russell said he had already messaged star Edinburgh winger Duhan van der Merwe, warning him to expect a tough night, but knows that the Scottish side will prove a real challenge for high-flying Bath.
“I’m not sure what the weather will be like but if it’s like it is now there’ll be a lot of balls going up in the air,” added Russell. “I’ve already texted Duhan to tell him to be ready.
“Edinburgh will be coming down with everything to play for. They have had a great campaign in the Champions Cup so far. It’s going to be a big challenge for us and we know what’s coming. Hopefully we’ll do the job on Friday night and we’ve got bit of a plan for them.
“This game could help us get a home play-off, so it’s not a knockout game but it’s one we want to win so we can put our best foot forward in the next round of the competition.”
Russell led Bath to their first Prem title for almost 30 years last term, as well as the European Challenge Cup crown, but he’s eager for them to make waves in the top-tier European competition this time around.
The Blue, Black and Whites are going well domestically once more, sitting second in the Prem, although the fly half admits their has been a transition in switching from the highly-regarded Lee Blackett – who left to join the England coaching set-up – to Martin Gleeson as attack coach.
“Since the November Tests we’ve spoken more about playing more expansively like we used to do last year and the year before,” Russell explained. “Lee and Glees have different views about how we can run an attack shape so we’ve been figuring out how we can adjust and what works best for people.
“In the last few games we’ve gone slightly wider off 10. We have probably had more joy with that, focusing a little bit more on multi-phase and trying to take teams apart like that.”
“With the forwards we’ve got why wouldn’t you use pick and go’s though. They’re so good at that. It’s definitely a strength of ours but as backs we’re looking to try and be more expansive as well. It’s about getting the balance right.”
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