Scotland need flyhalf Finn Russell to produce the magic to beat the Springboks in South Africa for the first time, writes MARK KEOHANE.
Russell is Scotland’s flyhalf conductor. When he plays there is always hype and there is always hope.
Russell has never played the Springboks in South Africa wearing his Scotland colours.
He was in South Africa in 2021 with the British & Irish Lions, but his tour combined elation, frustration and despair.
The elation came from being selected and the frustration from being unavailable for the first two Tests of the three-Test series because he was still recovering from an achilles injury.
Russell finally saw Test match action in the third and final Test, coming on as an early replacement. He scored 11 of the Lions’ 16 points in a dramatic 19-16 defeat, which also secured the series win for the Springboks.
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Russell was praised for his wizardry on the ball and his ability to find vulnerability in a Springbok defensive system that had proved miserly all series.
It was a little too late for Russell and the Lions. To add to the despair and disappointment, Covid-19 lockdown forced the entire tour to be played in empty stadiums.
In media interviews previewing the inaugural Nations Championship, Russell bemoaned not experiencing South Africa and the Springboks as he had envisaged due to the lockdown restrictions. He said the prospect of going to South Africa for a Test match in front of packed crowds in July would be a first for him.
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Russell is hopeful that July, a Test month of firsts for him, will also be a Test month of firsts for Scotland in South Africa in the professional era. The Scots have never won against the Springboks in South Africa, and Russell has also never played in Argentina and Fiji, the destinations for Scotland’s other two Nations Championship matches.
Russell is a fan of the Nations Championship concept, where the reward in each Test is league points for the finals weekend at Twickenham, where teams rank from six plays six down to one plays one.
He wants Scotland to achieve that No 1 spot after they mixed the magical with the dire in the recent Six Nations. Scotland lost to Italy but hammered England and beat France, only then to get hammered by Ireland.
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Russell, who was the highest-paid player in the sport when signing for Paris-based Racing 92, remains one of the most sought-after No 10s in the game. He has significant playing pedigree, having started his career at Glasgow (81 matches).
He has been central to Johann van Graan’s rebuild of Bath in the English Premiership and Europe, and wants that one big hurrah in South Africa against the Springboks.
Russell, nearing 100 Test caps, will probably play out his Test career at the World Cup in Australia next year when he will be approaching 35.
But as Van Graan repeatedly says, there is still so much magic in Russell’s hands and feet, not to mention his mind, that he remains one of the biggest influences on match days, be it for Bath or Scotland.
And if Scotland are to win for the first time in eight attempts in South Africa, it will be down to Russell.
– This column first appeared in the July 2026 issue of SA Rugby magazine. The August 2026 issue is also available to read for FREE.
Photo: Franco Arland/Getty Images
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Scotland need flyhalf Finn Russell to produce the magic to beat the Springboks in South Africa for the first time, writes MARK KEOHANE.
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