London (AFP)
The Scottish federation has announced that the halfback Finn Russell has been excluded from his national selection for disciplinary reasons and will not play against Ireland, for entry into the Six Nations Tournament on February 1.
"Finn Russell will no longer play any part in the preparation of the opening match of the Six Nations Tournament against Ireland, having been penalized for violating the rules of the team during training week in Edinburgh", explains a spokesperson on the official federation Twitter account.
"He returned to his club" Racing 92, he added, who travels to Castres on Saturday for the 14th day of Top 14.
According to the British press, Finn Russell missed training the day after a night out in Edinburgh bars.
The door seems to remain open to see the talented but sometimes fanciful 27-year-old N. 10 come back for the rest of the tournament, when the BBC had hinted a few minutes earlier that he could miss it entirely.
His relations with coach Gregor Townsend have sometimes been stormy, as in the match against England in 2019 where the thistle fifteen was led 31-7 at the break, but had snatched a memorable 38-38 draw, the first match to Twickenham who did not end in defeat for them since 1983.
"In fact I quarreled with Gregor," Russell replied most seriously to ITV, who asked him what had been said in the locker room for such a turnaround.
The two men know each other very well, Townsend having already coached Russell in the Glasgow Warriors jersey until his departure to take charge of the selection in 2017.
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