Finn Russell insisted he had been revitalised by his move to Bath as he plots Scotland’s attacking strategy for the Six Nations with Gregor Townsend.
Russell helped Bath qualify for the knockout phase of the Investec Champions Cup by directing a 29-25 victory over Top 14 leaders Racing 92 on Sunday, their third win in as many group matches.
The 31-year-old Scot left the Parisians for the Recreation Ground over the summer and the change of scenery has been an unqualified success, with his new club enjoying a revival in the Gallagher Premiership and Europe.
He hopes to enter the Six Nations with the same brio and has been in frequent contact with Scotland head coach Townsend ahead of the opener against Wales on February 3.
“Coming and changing teams with Bath has given me, not a new lease of life, but it has energised me,” Russell said.
“It has been a new challenge and I’ve worked with new players in a slightly different structure and with a new gameplan, which has been good fun.
“I have grown again since I have been here. It is good for me as a 10, the more experience I get, the better.
“I have spoken to Gregor quite a lot. He texted me on Saturday and every week we have been chatting.
“I have got a call with him on Monday to chat about a few options with the attack through the Six Nations.”
While the move to Bath has put a spring in Russell’s step and provided the Premiership with a new poster boy, it also helped the fly-half come to terms with Scotland’s recent group exit from the World Cup.
“Physically I was all right. I played three games out of four at the World Cup but every game I had a week off after so physically I was fine,” he said.
“It was more disappointment. I wanted to get straight back in here so I almost didn’t have time to dwell on what had happened.
“I took a week off, three or four weeks after I came back in, got away and had a proper holiday and switched off a bit, but coming back in here and getting something fresh has been really good to get over it.
“Potentially, if I had stayed at Racing I would have gone back there and it would have been the same again and dwelling on the World Cup.
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“Coming into a new team with new coaches and a new environment and starting from scratch helped me get over that World Cup.”
Russell’s immediate assignment is Bath’s trip to Toulouse on Sunday with the winners finishing top of Pool 2 and guaranteed home advantage in the round of 16.
“Toulouse will be really tough but we are going there to try and win that game. They have got 40 points every game so it’s going to be a challenge, but we have got the confidence and belief to go and do that,” Russell added.
Rees-Zammit relishing Mahomes advice as former rugby star eyes spot on Chiefs roster
Louis Rees-Zammit has likened Patrick Mahomes to an extra coach as he looks to make an impact in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Rees-Zammit shocked rugby union fans in January when he announced he was turning his back on the sport to enter the NFL's International Player Pathway programme.
He was signed by two-time defending Super Bowl champions Kansas City in March and is now looking to earn a place on their roster for 2024, learning the role of running back at the Chiefs' rookie minicamp after attending another training camp alongside Mahomes.
Rees-Zammit has made sure to pick the brains of Mahomes, who has led the Chiefs to six straight AFC Championship games and won three Super Bowl rings since being drafted in 2017.
"It was amazing, all the quarterbacks and receivers were there, we were running routes, we were working in the gym", Rees-Zammit said of his experience at that camp in Texas.
"It was a great two weeks, I definitely learned a lot with Pat and the other boys."
Asked if Mahomes was acting like an extra coach, he said: "100 per cent.
"I'm new to the game so I'm trying to pick everyone's brains and try and pick up the sport as quick as possible because I want to be out there playing.
"The way I can do that is picking the brains of everyone that's currently here and trying to learn the game as quickly as possible."
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has been impressed by Rees-Zammit's attitude, saying: "He's so diligent with everything and wants to be so good at everything. I appreciate that.
"I like the fact he's got shorter steps initially, that's a good thing as a running back. If you're a long strider in there you've got to really work on making it through those tight adjustments you have to make. He seems to have a nice feel."
England and Saracens number eight Vunipola fined after arrest in Mallorca
England international Billy Vunipola has confirmed he has been fined after an incident which saw him arrested in Mallorca on Sunday, with his club Saracens set to launch an internal investigation.
On Monday, widespread reports claimed Vunipola had been tasered by Spanish police in the early hours of Sunday morning, with an altercation taking place after he left a club in Palma.
Saracens later confirmed they were aware of an incident and said they would deal with it internally.
The number eight, who was born in Australia but has represented England 75 times, later released a statement of his own via his club, denying that any violence took place and confirming the police investigation was now closed.
"I can confirm I was involved in an unfortunate misunderstanding when I was leaving a club in Mallorca on Sunday, which got out of hand," that statement read.
"Contrary to media reports, there was no violence, no fight and I did not threaten anybody at any stage, with bottles or chairs or anything else.
"I was charged with resisting the law and, following an 'express trial', I have paid a fine of €240. The Spanish police investigation is now closed, and I am flying back to the UK today.
"I will obviously cooperate with the Saracens internal process and unreservedly apologise for any inconvenience to all involved."
Fraser Brown ‘hugely proud’ of Scotland career as he announces rugby retirement
Fraser Brown declared himself “hugely proud” of his Scotland career as he announced his retirement from professional rugby.
The 34-year-old Glasgow hooker has not played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament while playing for the World XV against the Barbarians at Twickenham last May and he has now conceded defeat in his bid to return to action.
Brown won 61 Scotland caps, with the first of them coming against Italy in 2013 and the last in the Six Nations match at home to Ireland in 2023, the same game incidentally in which Stuart Hogg won his final cap. The front-rower went to both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
“When you have a serious injury like I did with an ACL at the end of your career, it is always going to be hard to come back from,” Brown told Scottish Rugby.
“That probably made it a little easier to announce my retirement but it’s still a surreal and strange feeling.
“I’m hugely proud to have played so many times for Scotland during my career. To get one cap was great, but then my second one came against the All Blacks at Murrayfield which was such a special occasion.
“To reach 50 caps was a big moment as I had to deal with a lot of injuries throughout my career and to be part of the growth process of the team which has resulted in where they are now has been cool.”
At club level, Brown made 141 appearances for Glasgow after joining from Edinburgh in 2011.
The hooker helped them win the Guinness Pro12 in 2015 with victory over Munster in the final in Belfast, while his last appearance for Warriors proved to be last season’s Challenge Cup final defeat by Toulon in Dublin.
Glasgow head coach Franco Smith paid tribute to Brown, saying: “Fraser is the epitome of a modern professional and someone who should serve as a role model to any young player starting their journey.
“The respect with which he is held, not only within the Glasgow Warriors community but within the wider rugby family, should serve to underline the achievements he has earned throughout his career and the manner in which he has achieved them.
“His work ethic and determination to bring the best out of the people and players around him has been clear to all throughout his career.
“I wish him the very best for whatever comes next and I know he will apply that same work ethic and determination that made him one of this club’s most distinguished Warriors.”
Brown becomes the second experienced Scotland front-rower to announce his retirement in the space of a month after Edinburgh prop WP Nel recently revealed he would be hanging his boots up at the end of this season.
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