Six Nations clock ticking for Finn Russell and Gregor Townsend as Scotland aim for something tangible

The Scotland co-captain was enjoying being back in Paris and performed media duties with his usual aplomb, fielding questions in French to local reporters before speaking to the travelling Scottish press.

Appropriately enough in the city of Edith Piaf, talk turned to regrets and Russell admitted to a few, most pointedly the missed conversions against England. Had he landed one of them, things could have been very different and Scotland and France would both have been going for the title on Saturday night.

As it is, it’s Fabien Galthie’s side who will be crowned champions if they win with a bonus point. To the victor go the spoils. For Scotland, more what ifs.

Russell, 32, was asked if time was running out for him to taste success in this tournament and the same question applies to Gregor Townsend and the wider squad. Hugely gifted and widely lauded, there is little tangible evidence to back up John Jeffrey’s pre-World Cup claim that it was “the best ever Scotland team to take the field”. They have never finished higher than third in the Six Nations and failed to progress from the group stage of the last two World Cups.

Asked how many Six Nations he might have left, Russell smiled. “I don't know, maybe about four or five,” he said. “I've not started thinking about it yet, but the more people ask me about it, the more I start thinking about it. At this level, I'm lucky to have done it for a long time now, but you never know how many you're going to have.

“So it's always kind of that, looking back, ‘if I'd have done this, that could have been the tournament, that could have been the one’. Last year, had we beaten France at home, and Italy could that have been the tournament?

“This time, if we'd have got the kick [against England], would this have been the tournament? There's always going to be that. I wouldn't say you can look back on it too much, you just have to move on and get on to the next thing.”

The next thing is trying to derail France’s title bid and put in the sort of Scottish performance that will live long in the memory. This campaign thus far has produced rather patchy wins over Italy and Wales, a heavy defeat to Ireland and a performance at Twickenham that was as impressive as it was frustrating.

“There's definitely a point to prove,” said Russell, who spent five years in Paris playing for Racing 92. “I think, again, in the first half last week [against Wales] we did that, so then this week it's more [about] let's prove that we can actually play for 80 minutes, that we can keep mentally there for the whole game and not have a five minutes or ten minutes [drop-off] against the French, who are, I'd say, probably the most dangerous if you have that. They've got players who can score in a split second.

“I think for us as a group, we have a point to prove to each other to show that we're there and that we're moving forward at every game.”

It’s hard to discern too many signs of progress. Scotland are on course for their fifth fourth-place finish in the last six years and have never finished higher than third since the championship was expanded to include Italy. Townsend, who has another year left on his contract, has taken charge of 39 Six Nations matches across eight campaigns and his record in the championship reads: won 19, lost 19, with one game drawn.

He has elevated Scotland into a team capable of brilliance but they have been unable to mount a sustained and serious title challenge. The coach knows his side will need to produce a display this weekend similar to the ones that saw them win at Twickenham in 2021 and 2023 and in Paris in 2021. And despite the mixed results in this championship, Townsend says he was been happy with the performances. “I feel strongly that this has been a very good tournament in terms of how we played,” he said.

Russell was part of the side that won at the Stade de France in 2021, denying their hosts the Six Nations title in the process. It remains Scotland’s only victory in Paris in the Six Nations era and was achieved despite the stand-off being sent off with 10 minutes remaining. Of the team that will take the field on Saturday night, Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Dave Cherry and Huw Jones all featured alongside Russell four years ago.

“I think it's brilliant still having that experience in the team,” said the co-captain. “However, that was during Covid, so it was very different playing here with no fans compared to when you've got 80,000 here. But I think in terms of the belief that we have, it's definitely there.

“We ran France really close at home last year and potentially should have won that game as well. I think we definitely have a belief going into this game. They're off the back of a massive win against Ireland, they've got the title on the line, so I think we're here to play as well as we can and not almost overthink about the result that we have to win. Let's just play as well as we can and adapt to the situation as the game unfolds.”

It is not an occasion for regrets.