Finn Russell rises from the ashes with masterful display against Top 14 champs
Just days after being controversially omitted from Gregor Townsend's Scotland squad, and just one day after his Scotland No10 rival Adam Hastings produced a mammoth match-winning drop goal for Gloucester, Finn Russell pulled probably his best performance of the season out of the bag.
Racing 92 hosted fellow Top 14 strugglers, and reigning champions, Montpellier at La Defense Arena on Saturday, and blew them away in the first 45 minutes of the match. Racing scored four tries, with Russell having a hand in three. He assisted both Francis Saili, with a well timed short pass, and Juan Imhoff, with a long pass, and was the architect of Donovan Taofifénua's try with a sniping break and an offload. On top of that, he also kicked 18 points in Racing's 38-31 win.
Townsend has tried to shy away from the reason why he dropped Russell, but if the fly-half's level remains the same as it was against Montpellier, he may have a tough time justifying the decision.
Take a look at his game:
Scotland Autumn Nations Series Squad
Forwards
Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks) 4 caps
Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby) 3 caps
Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) 22 caps
Dave Cherry (Edinburgh Rugby) 7 caps
Andy Christie (Saracens) 3 caps
Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) 2 caps
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) 23 caps
Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 24 caps
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 50 caps
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) 55 caps
Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) 69 caps
Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 67 caps
Nick Haining (Edinburgh Rugby) 11 caps
WP Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) 48 caps
Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby) – CAPTAIN – 32 caps
Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) 12 caps
Sam Skinner (Edinburgh Rugby) 22 caps
Rory Sutherland (Ulster Rugby) 20 caps
George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 27 caps
Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) 51 caps
Backs
Mark Bennett (Edinburgh Rugby) 27 caps
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) 29 caps
Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby) 36 caps
Adam Hastings (Gloucester Rugby) 26 caps
Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) 93 caps
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 17 caps
Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh Rugby) 4 caps
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) 34 caps
Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
Rufus McLean (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) 54 caps
Cameron Redpath (Bath Rugby) 2 caps
Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors) 1 cap
Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) 5 caps
Ross Thompson (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) 7 caps
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby) 19 caps
Ben White (London Irish) 6 caps