{"id":298140,"date":"2023-12-15T20:43:57","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T20:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=298140"},"modified":"2023-12-15T20:43:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T20:43:57","slug":"baths-magic-man-finn-russell-is-full-of-tricks-at-the-rec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/rugby-union\/baths-magic-man-finn-russell-is-full-of-tricks-at-the-rec\/","title":{"rendered":"Bath&apos;s magic man Finn Russell is full of tricks at the Rec"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> Bath&#8217;s magic man Finn Russell is full of tricks at the Rec and the Scotland star is fully-focused on helping his club&#8217;s quest to pull some silverware out of the hat<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Scotland No 10 Finn Russell joined Bath\u00a0after leaving French side Racing 92<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Russell has had a transformative impact since linking up after the World Cup\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>At 31, he&#8217;s experienced\u00a0but has the moments of wizardry\u00a0from his younger days<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u2018I usually save my tricks for the weekend!\u2019 said Finn Russell, sitting down for a masterclass with a magician before Bath\u2019s weekly media session. Taking hold of a deck of cards, the No 10 attempted the sleight of hand that has already established himself as the club\u2019s resident entertainer.<\/p>\n<p>There has not been much to dazzle the West Country fans over the last few years but that has all changed since Russell\u2019s arrival in October. He parked the disappointment of Scotland\u2019s early World Cup exit and immediately went about steering Bath back to winning ways.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I love it here,\u2019 said Russell, who spent the last five years playing for Racing 92. \u2018They sell the Rec out pretty much every week. It\u2019s my first time playing for a team that the city is fully behind. In Glasgow there&#8217;s obviously football there and Paris is such a big city &#8211; Stade Francais and PSG &#8211; so there&#8217;s a lot of other things going on. Here in Bath it&#8217;s a proper rugby town, it&#8217;s great fun.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Russell arrived with a big price tag and big expectations. Aged 31, he is now a senior figure in the sport, recognised for his mature game management as well as the moments of wizardry that defined his 20s. He has joined forced with the likes of Alfie Barbeary and Ollie Lawrence to inject new life into the club, steering them towards the top of the Premiership and a winning start in Europe.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018When I saw the signings the club made a year ago now, for the back end of last season, then chatting to Johann [van Graan] and hearing how he sees the club progressing, it was a really exciting opportunity to get involved in.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/15\/17\/79009119-12869133-Tik_Tok_magician_Dan_Rhodes_left_gave_Bath_stars_Sam_Harris_seco-a-1_1702663056626.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Tik Tok magician Dan Rhodes (left) gave Bath stars Sam Harris (second left), Finn Russell (second right) and Will Stuart (right) a lesson in magic at The Rec<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/15\/17\/79009145-12869133-Russell_31_joined_Bath_in_the_summer_after_spending_five_years_w-a-2_1702663061808.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Russell, 31, joined Bath in the summer after spending five years with French outfit Racing 92<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I had a few questions before I met Johann. He was at Munster before who kicked the ball a lot, so I was sceptical about how it would be with me coming here. Working with him, I wasn\u2019t too sure, but after that first meeting it\u2019s a bit far to say I felt at home straight away.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It has not taken long for the Russell family to settle in. He relocated with his partner, Emma, and their one-year-old daughter, Charlie. Russell\u2019s party boy days are largely behind him, more likely to be found this winter with a cup of green tea than a bottle of Buckfast.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019m looking around here and I might be the second oldest back! As a 10 that\u2019s not a bad thing. I\u2019m 31, I\u2019ve got a mix of a lot of experience but I\u2019m also physically able to do the job as well. It\u2019s not as if I\u2019m late 30s and reliant on the mental side more than the physical. I think I\u2019ve got a good balance just now of experience and age.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019m not trying to teach these boys anything new, things they don\u2019t already know, I\u2019m just showing them how I see the game, how I\u2019m going to try and play it. At times I\u2019ve been in their situation, whether it\u2019s on or off field, so I can have a chat with them to make sure they\u2019re happy, going into the weekend, with nothing but the gameplan in their minds.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I still have a beer with them in the changing room afterwards. It\u2019s just my responsibilities have changed obviously. I\u2019m not able to wake up at 12 in the afternoon any more on a day off, or just lie on the couch watching telly all day. Whatever they go and do afterwards I couldn\u2019t care to be honest, as long as they turn up Monday and they\u2019re ready to go again.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Russell lives 50 metres up the road from Cameron Redpath, his team-mate for club and country. Redpath is one of several centres relishing the opportunity to play outside one of the world\u2019s leading No10s. Despite the often boggy conditions at the Rec, entertainment will always be high on their agenda.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018These boys, with the style of rugby we\u2019re playing, have a lot of confidence to have a crack, have a go, to get the ball in their hands and try and execute the option that they are seeing. Whether that is a chip over the top or a double miss pass. They have got the backing of the rest of the team and the coaches behind them which I think helps and brings the best out of them.<\/p>\n<p>`You definitely get a sense here that it is not just us as a rugby team, it is the whole town that is pushing to try and get that silverware. Through the results we\u2019ve been getting and the way we are playing, I\u2019d like to think we have got a bit of belief back in the city. They\u2019ve been coming along and filling the stadium out whether or not they have been bottom of the league. As players, we are definitely getting that belief back with some of the results that we have had.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/15\/16\/79010011-0-image-a-24_1702656983393.jpg\" height=\"420\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Russell linked up with his new team immediately after Scotland&#8217;s World Cup disappointment<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/15\/16\/79010015-0-image-a-25_1702656985145.jpg\" height=\"503\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He has had a transformative impact already at the West Country club and dazzled supporters<\/p>\n<p>As for Russell\u2019s personal goals, the 2025 Lions tour should be high on his agenda. He is yet to start a Test match for the touring side but he could be in his prime by the time the side travel out to Australia.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Obviously the Lions tour is just over a year and a half away,\u2019 said Russell. \u2018Currently, for me, it\u2019s just about doing as well as I can here. I want to win silverware. I\u2019ve not won anything since 2015 so that\u2019s my main goal just now. If I\u2019m doing the job here and manage to get some silverware, you never know what might happen off the back of that.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Getting silverware is the most important thing right now, whether that\u2019s in Europe or in the Premiership. And when I get into the Scotland camp for the Six Nations I\u2019ll be focussed on trying to get something there. I think that\u2019s probably the best way to try and get over the disappointment of the World Cup.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>With a flash of Russell\u2019s rugby magic, anything is possible.<\/p>\n<p><span>Finn, Will Stuart and Sam Harris were learning magic from Tik Tok magician Dan Rhodes ahead of the festive season where they were given a 101 on tricks dexterity and sleight of hand. Watch Dan&#8217;s tips and tricks above.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12869133\/Bath-Finn-Russell-Scotland-silverware.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Bath&#8217;s magic man Finn Russell is full of tricks at the Rec and the Scotland star is fully-focused on helping his club&#8217;s quest to pull <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/rugby-union\/baths-magic-man-finn-russell-is-full-of-tricks-at-the-rec\/\" title=\"Bath&amp;apos;s magic man Finn Russell is full of tricks at the Rec\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bath&amp;apos;s magic man Finn Russell is full of tricks at the Rec - 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