British and Irish Lions assistant coach Johnny Sexton believes that Finn Russell has evolved into a more “mature” fly half after admitting that he had misconstrued the Scot’s character prior to working with him on this tour.
Russell has been picked to start at 10 in the first Test against Australia in Brisbane this weekend having emerged as the outstanding candidate for the role over the last few years and impressed since arriving Down Under.
The 32-year-old is coming off an excellent season with Bath, guiding them to the Premiership title, and is featuring in a third tour – though his 2017 call-up came late and under controversial circumstances, while his 2021 trip to South Africa was disrupted by injury.
Sexton, a six-time Test Lion, had caused something of a stir when he described Russell as “flashy” and suggested he would pick other fly halves ahead of him for the Lions in a newspaper interview last November. The Irishman had been overlooked for Russell by Warren Gatland in 2021.
The pair both played down any idea of a feud between them after Sexton joined Andy Farrell’s staff as an assistant coach ahead of this tour, and have worked closely together over the last few weeks.
And admitting that he had been wrong about aspects of Russell’s preparation, Sexton backed the fly half to shine at Suncorp Stadium.
“He has been relaxed as always, you wouldn’t know it’s the week of a Test match,” Sexton said of Russell. “You can see the work he does, though.
“You have a perception of him from the outside and I would have had the same, in terms of he is a relaxed guy and just takes things in his stride. But he does a lot of work behind the scenes, and he’s been really good this week in prepping the team. As a 10, you need the guys around you prepared, you need to know what you are doing together and he has done a great job of that so far. Hopefully he’ll continue his form.
“Like everyone, I think in the last couple of years he’s really matured as a player. You can see, Bath getting to finals, winning trophies, you can’t do that if you’re just that kind of mercurial 10.
“You’ve seen that now this year. He’s got his team over the line and he’s won a few trophies and he’s carried that form into here. We always knew, particularly when you’re surrounding him with the players he’s got around him, he’s going to bring the best out of them and they’ll bring the best out of him. So hoping that he continues that tomorrow and has a good one.”
Marcus Smith has been preferred to Owen Farrell and Fin Smith as fly half cover on the bench, with Russell handed the reins to run the Lions side in Brisbane and alongside two Scots with Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones paired in centre partnership.
Sexton, a first Test starter in Brisbane in 2013, expects the Wallabies to try to target the Scottish fly half defensively but has backed Russell to stand up to the challenge.
“He’s been probably our best defender in the backline on this tour so far, I would say,” the former Ireland playmaker said. “You always knew that was in there, he’s a feisty guy out there. Physically he doesn’t look that big but he’s fronted up big time on this tour, a lot of impact tackles and we’ll need him tomorrow in that regard because they’ll be coming down his channel, I’m sure.
“Oh, he’s still flash, yeah! He’d hate it if I said ‘no’. But in the last couple of years he’s come into his own as a 10 and he’s been able to manage a team because ultimately that’s the main job that he’s got tomorrow, is to manage all the guys around him. And then his brilliance will come out once he’s into the game.”
