CARDIFF — One in the British & Irish Lions squad, one not – Finn Russell and Ben Spencer have been through mixed experiences of the big recent selection call but each man played a quality part in Bath’s European Challenge Cup final victory over Lyon.
The knife-edged nature of a final often demands control over colour, and a foot on the throat as much as fancy flourishes. That was the way with the 50-22 kicks produced by Spencer and Russell to pin their French opponents back in the crucial early exchanges here in Cardiff.
Canny decision-making and quality kicking have always been Spencer’s hallmark, even if during the course of this season it has not been enough for Bath’s scrum-half and captain to earn a permanent place for England or a call from the Lions, who plumped for Jamison Gibson-Park, Tomos Williams and Alex Mitchell instead.
At the same time the Lions’ head coach Andy Farrell can look at Russell’s performance in this match and be reassured – if reassurance was needed – that the 32-year-old Scot can guide a team around a field as securely as any No 10 on the planet.
And the two Bath half-backs together had to keep their heads through a dodgy second-quarter spell when Sam Underhill and Will Muir went to the sin bin – under the more stringent refereeing of foul play a couple of years ago, both decisions could easily have been red cards.
‘Boys like me push the piano around; Ben Spencer plays it’ (Photo: Getty)Whenever the three Lions Tests in Australia this summer come down to a full-on scrap for every point and position, as they are almost bound to do, Russell has the ability to marry the smoothness of his passing with a more direct approach to keep his team moving forward.
You could see a blueprint for the Lions as Russell in Bath’s European final kit of light blue and white unfussily brought the silky runners Max Ojomoh and Tom de Glanville into the game.
Russell is rated by his club attack coach Lee Blackett as one of the best passers in the world, even if it may not always be easy to see for TV viewers whose main view is through side-on camera angles, or even to the 20,000 or so Bath devotees who teemed across the Severn by car, coach and train to revel in their club landing a first piece of major silverware since the same Challenge Cup in 2008.
Russell himself had only won one title before, a Pro12 with Glasgow Warriors in 2015, so he must be feeling relief at getting this one over the line, even if the opposition was comparatively modest in France’s 11th-placed club. This, in truth, is a second-tier event behind the higher-grade Champions Cup.
Another plus for Russell was his 100 per cent goal-kicking from the tee, with conversions of all four Bath tries by Tom Dunn, Ojomoh, Beno Obano and Spencer, plus three penalties including one belted from 40 metres with Bath already 34-12 up, and only nine minutes remaining.
That kick and another much earlier in the second half felt like a message sent by Russell to Farrell of “yes, sir, I can nail it,” if there were any lingering doubts over the pressure kicks he missed during this year’s Six Nations.
As for Spencer, he was not in the England squad for the summer tour to Argentina and the USA who trained this week, as he was busy with this task in hand.
square RUGBY UNION Interview'He never gives up': Tommy Freeman's parents on his epilepsy diagnosis
Read More
He may not get the call to tour anyway, as it is possible the England boss Steve Borthwick has given up trying to find a style that suits him.
Raffi Quirke, Harry Randall and Jack van Poortvliet are likelier to be vying with England’s Lion, Mitchell of Northampton, when it comes to next season and beyond.
Yet the 32-year-old Spencer, who has walked the exalted stage of Champions Cup winner with his previous club Saracens, possesses the quality to plug a gap with the Lions if it arises.
And the more obvious huge saving grace is he can march on now with his club to help confirm Bath’s long-awaited return to the big time.
The Premiership leaders are already assured of a home semi-final in the play-offs on 6 June, and they will kick themselves forever if they do not go one better than last season’s losing final at Twickenham in three weeks’ time.
“The game’s a bit of a blur, I was absolutely shattered coming off the pitch,” Spencer said.
“Tonight’s performance has been building a long time; the way we managed the double yellow card period, a hit by [flanker] Ted Hill -that’s the fight and spirit we want to show for each other.”
Bath hooker Dunn said of Spencer: “Boys like me push the piano around; Ben plays it. He leads our defence, sets our tempo and everything we do.”
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The duo who guided Bath to glory – and sent a message to the Lions )
Also on site :
- '90s 'Dawson's Creek' Heartthrob, 53, Nearly Unrecognizable in 'Van Life' Video
- Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump envoy calls for ‘ceasefire now’ after Putin’s ‘shameful’ bombardment on Kyiv
- Why is Africa seeing a rise in mining accidents and exploitation?