Clutching a bottle of lager deep in the bowels of Twickenham, the celebrations could at last begin for Finn Russell. For a decade the Scottish fly half had sought a second success to go along with the Pro 12 title won at Glasgow as a 22-year-old to no avail; after playing a starring role to snap Bath’s own, longer wait for a title, this was a triumph he intended to enjoy.
But only temporarily. On Monday, Russell will fly to Dublin to join up with the British and Irish Lions aiming to quickly shake off any lingering impacts of the final and its aftermath and get up to speed. It is a tight turnaround for Russell, Will Stuart, Ollie Chessum and the large Leinster lot ahead of the touring side’s first fixture against Argentina on Friday – while it is likely that most are not involved at the Aviva Stadium there will clearly be a need to hit the ground running.
