While most people know about Finn Russell’s incredible skill, his push for free-flowing attacking rugby and disobedience to follow a game plan on occasion, there are some facets of the Scotland internationals life that are less well known.
Here are five things you might not have know about Finn Russell…
AMATEUR CAREER
In 2013, he received the John Macphail Scholarship, spending 15 weeks in New Zealand’s South Island playing for local clubs in the Christchurch area. He benefited from the state-of-the art facilities and specialist coaching offered by the Canterbury Rugby Football Union international high performance unit.
WORK
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.[9]