Townsend angry at being denied players for Scotland Six Nations training camps

Finn Russell was among the players Gregor Townsend was deprived of at the training camp. Photograph: Robert Perry/EPA

Scotland’s head coach, Gregor Townsend, has vented intense frustration at being deprived of five key players, including his co-captain Finn Russell, during team training camps in the fallow weeks of this year’s Six Nations.

Russell was forced to skip international training in the week before Scotland’s win against England, and will likely have to do the same again before their next match against Italy, even though his club side, Bath, do not have any fixtures scheduled in the period, or any training sessions arranged during the off week.