Vern Cotter poaches his stand-off prodigy for his Montpellier revolution.
Finn Russell is arguably one of the more exciting talents in the northern hemisphere right now (Gatland may tell you its Dan Biggar – but don’t be fooled) and it seems that his emergence onto the world stage will be rewarded with a big money move to the Top 14.
Reports are surfacing (Scotsman) that Russell will make the move to join former Scotland coach Vern Cotter in Montpellier in time for the 2018-19 season, the one after next. Russell, instrumental is dismantling Australia in Scotland’s stunning 24-19 down under on Saturday, is reported to have signed a pre-contract agreement with the French giants.
Cotter, ushered out of the Murrayfield back door after a highly successful and popular stint with Scotland, was well known to be a huge fan of the mercurial stand-off. Some will see this as a small act of revenge by the Kiwi – although the true act of revenge may well be his €1 million salary at Montpellier, courtesy of their billionaire owner Mohed Altrad. Finn Russell will reportedly earn a multiple of his current salary.
Russell will not have a clear run at the Number 10 jersey however, with 47 times capped All Black Aaron Cruden arriving this summer. Arguably he would be lining up to face the British & Irish Lions if it wasn’t for the monumental talent that is Beauden Barrett. Frans Steyn will leave Montpellier at the end of the coming season and Russell looks to be a direct replacement for the outgoing South African.
It is well known that Russell may well have missed out on the Lions first up as his attacking, high risk (but at time high reward) style of rugby doesn’t suit Gatland’s low risk game; however, it showed on Saturday that he can dismantle a top class side just as well as anyone in the northern hemisphere, the consistency may just be quite there yet.
Russell can cope with the pressure and he was routinely targeted by the Wallabies on Saturday. To no avail. Russell likes to take the ball to the gainline, even if he gets one in the ribs every time for doing so. He is an exciting talent and Scottish rugby fans will be hoping that the miss to Glasgow Warriors will bring his game on even further but also open the door for 20 year old Adam Hastings, son of former Scotland and Lions captain Gavin Hastings, to develop into a world class stand-off too.
How much will Scotland miss Russell? Only his true influence on Scotland’s play will be revealed when they take on Fiji this Saturday.
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