Finn Russell

Finn Alastair Russell (born 23 September 1992) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Premiership Rugby club Bath and captains the Scotland national team.

Russell made his international debut against the United States in 2014, and has since played over fifty test matches. He has also represented the British & Irish Lions during their tours of New Zealand in 2017 and South Africa in 2021, playing in one test. In 2024, Russell featured in the Netflix documentary Six Nations Full Contact.

Early life
Russell was born into a sporting family. His father played a lot of racket sports, and worked in sports administration, including as Director of Domestic Rugby for the Scottish Rugby Union. His grandparents were international badminton players, his uncle and great-grandfather played Cricket for Scotland and his brothers are also noted rugby players.

Russell started playing rugby in Wallace High School in Stirling. Russell did not feel drawn to academic work. After secondary school, he pursued an apprenticeship for three years as a stonemason, in a business owned by a family friend, whilst his rugby developed.

In 2013 Russell received the John Macphail Scholarship, linked with New Zealand's Lincoln University, spending 15 weeks in New Zealand's South Island playing for local clubs in the Christchurch area. He benefited from the facilities and specialist coaching offered by the Canterbury Rugby Football Union international high performance unit.

Ayr
Russell initially played rugby at Stirling County, but in 2011 moved to second-flight Falkirk to improve his chances of first XV club rugby. Russell was selected to play for Ayr after the IRB Championship tournament, helping them win the league and cup double in the 2012–13 season of the Scottish Premiership. Russell joined Glasgow Warriors in 2012, but was injured in his first season.

Glasgow Warriors
Russell returned to Glasgow for the 2013/14 season. With Glasgow's top players away on international duty for the 2013 Six Nations Championship, Russell was named on the bench to face Zebre on 10 February 2013 as part of the 2012–13 Pro12 season, coming onto the field and making his professional debut at the 56th minute of the game. During the 2013–14 Pro12 season, Russell made his first start at the club, starting at Inside Centre against the Newport Gwent Dragons at Scotstoun Stadium on 22 November 2013. Glasgow head coach Gregor Townsend offered Russell a full-time contract with the club that began in the 2014–15 season.

2014–15 also saw Russell play a prominent role in Glasgow's Pro12 title triumph. In the final match of the regular season, he scored 22 points (including two tries) in a bonus-point victory over Ulster which was needed to secure a home play-off. The following week, against the same opposition, Russell's pass to D. T. H. van der Merwe in the 75th minute resulted in a try, tying the score at 14–14. Russell then scored the decisive conversion from a wide angle to send Glasgow into the final.

In the final at Belfast's Ravenhill Stadium, Russell scored a try and four conversions in a 31–13 victory over Munster, as Glasgow won their maiden title.

Racing 92
On 29 November 2017, it was announced that Russell would leave Glasgow Warriors at the end of the 2017–18 season to play for French club Racing 92, where he was to replace All Black Dan Carter who was moving to Japan.

In December 2022 it was announced that Russell would join Bath Rugby after the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Scotland
In 2012 Russell played at centre for Scotland at the World Rugby U20 Championships. Russell earned his first call-up to the senior national team during Scotland's summer 2014 tour of North America, where he started in the matches against the United States and Canada. That autumn, he started in all three of Scotland's November Tests against Argentina, New Zealand and Tonga.

In 2014, Russell had what Scottish sportswriter Andy Newport called "a meteoric rise [that] saw the former Stirling County youngster blast his way into the national team in the space of six months."

Russell established himself as Scotland's first-choice Number 10 during the 2015 Six Nations Championship, starting four of the team's five matches. He missed the defeat to Italy through suspension, his sin-binning against Wales having been upgraded to a two-week ban following a citation (and unsuccessful appeal). Russell scored his first international try in the final day defeat to eventual champions Ireland.

Russell was selected in Scotland's 31-man squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and scored a try in the team's opening match victory over Japan.

The summer of 2017 began with Russell as part of Scotland's Southern Hemisphere tour. He created two tries in the opening match win over Italy in Singapore, and followed this with a try of his own a week later during victory over Australia.

Russell played in all five of Scotland's 2018 Six Nations Championship fixtures. During the 25-13 victory over England, he threw an audacious pass on his own 22-yard line as part of an attack leading to a try scored by Sean Maitland. This piece of skill was subsequently described by many pundits as being one of the greatest of all-time.

Russell played in four of Scotland's 2019 Six Nations Championship fixtures, missing the match against France due to injury. He scored a try and two conversions and played pivotal role in Scotland's come back against England to earn a 38-38 draw.

Russell played in three of Scotland's group matches at the 2019 Rugby World Cup scoring a try in the loss to Japan, as Scotland failed to qualify to the quarter finals.

In 2023 Russell was selected as one of two specialist stand offs, the other being Ben Healy, in Scotland's 33 player squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

In 2024, Russell was named co-captain alongside Rory Darge for the 2024 Six Nations Championship.

British & Irish Lions
Following an instrumental man-of-the-match performance for Scotland against Australia in Sydney, Russell was called up as a replacement to the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. He made a brief mid-week appearance during the 31-31 draw with Super Rugby champions Hurricanes as replacement for Dan Biggar who had sustained a head injury, becoming Lion number #835.

In 2021, Russell was selected in the 37-man squad for the Lions' tour to South Africa. His first Lions points came when he kicked four conversions in the 7-54 victory over the Sharks. Following an achilles tendon injury that kept him out of the first two Tests, he was selected on the bench for the decisive third Test match, coming on to the field after only 11 minutes to kick 11 points. Russell's performance was widely praised, with former England scrum half Matt Dawson stating, “if he was an All Black, you’d be saying he’s the next Dan Carter, he’s that good”.

Personal life
After secondary school, Russell worked for three years as a stonemason. He recalled that time in a 2015 interview with Newport:

''On rainy days it could be pretty miserable. . . . It could be tough but I enjoyed it. I'd be making windowsills, door frames, fire places – even building walls. But compared to playing rugby, it's night and day. If I ever have a bad day at training, I think back to what it was like working in that cold shed.''

Russell has been nicknamed 'Russell the Muscle' due to having a somewhat slender build for a modern-day rugby player, and has also been given the moniker 'White Chocolate' by teammate Simon Zebo.

Russell has been in a relationship with Emma Canning, a Scottish heptathlete, since 2017. In November 2022 Canning gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter.

List of international tries

 * style="text-align:center;"|1
 * 21 March 2015
 * Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland
 * style="text-align:center;"|8–17
 * 10–40
 * 2015 Six Nations Championship
 * style="text-align:center;"|2
 * 23 September 2015
 * Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester, England
 * style="text-align:center;"|43–10
 * 2015 Rugby World Cup
 * style="text-align:center;"|3
 * 18 March 2017
 * Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland
 * style="text-align:center;"|8–0
 * 2017 Six Nations Championship
 * style="text-align:center;"|4
 * 17 June 2017
 * Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia
 * style="text-align:center;"|17–7
 * 2017 mid-year rugby union internationals
 * style="text-align:center;"|5
 * 16 March 2019
 * Twickenham Stadium, London, England
 * style="text-align:center;"|29–31
 * 38–38
 * 2019 Six Nations Championship
 * style="text-align:center;"|6
 * 13 October 2019
 * Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, Japan
 * style="text-align:center;"|5–0
 * 21–28
 * 2019 Rugby World Cup
 * style="text-align:center;"|7
 * 14 March 2021
 * Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland
 * style="text-align:center;"|8–8
 * 24–27
 * 2021 Six Nations Championship
 * }
 * style="text-align:center;"|6
 * 13 October 2019
 * Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, Japan
 * style="text-align:center;"|5–0
 * 21–28
 * 2019 Rugby World Cup
 * style="text-align:center;"|7
 * 14 March 2021
 * Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland
 * style="text-align:center;"|8–8
 * 24–27
 * 2021 Six Nations Championship
 * }
 * style="text-align:center;"|8–8
 * 24–27
 * 2021 Six Nations Championship
 * }