"It's Bragging Rights" - Bath's Finn Russell wants to one-up Scotland teammates in Edinburgh clash

Off the back of last week, Bath has a relatively fresh squad with the likes of Sam Underhill and Ollie Lawrence being available to play with only Josh Bayliss having question marks over his name.

The sides met last season north of the border, with Bath running out 39-24 away from home in the Challenge Cup and going on to be the eventual winners of the competition, however when the sides last met in the Champions Cup it was back in 2009 where the English side ran out 16-9 winners.

Domestically, Bath have been on a bit of a dip in form with falling to a home loss to Northampton as well as surviving a late second half come back at home to Exeter. For Scotland’s Finn Russell, the Bath fly half is excited to go head to head against his compatriots; “[it is] good fun playing against the boys you know but it’s the bragging rights going into the Six Nations in a couple of weeks’ time.”

Whilst head coach Johann van Graan is solely focused on this week, he is aware of the upcoming derby day match that Bath has against Gloucester at Kingsholm before the Six Nations. Van Graan is very aware of the prowess of Edinburgh with a fascinating contest awaiting his side with the likes of Pierre Schoeman in the pack, Ben Vellacott at nine and Darcy Graham and Duhan Van Der Merwe on the wings.

A win for Bath, which van Graan is very conscious of, gets his side a home semi-final. But with a target on their back after completing a treble last season, Van Graan knows that “people care and it’s a hard task with the target on their back and the moment you stand still in sport; you’ll fall off it.”

With the weather forecast looking slightly dismal, for Russell as a controlling player, he knows the threat of the Edinburgh wingers personally and doesn’t want them to get too much ball in hand time. With Duhan van der Merwe's power game and Darcy Graham having the agility to step someone in the space of a telephone box they are both a threat whether that is domestically or internationally.