England not solely focused on Russell, says Itoje

Guinness Men’s Six Nations: England v Scotland

Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Saturday, 22 February Kick-off: 16: 45 GMT

When Scotland and England resume their rivalry at Allianz Stadium on Saturday, they are looking for a record fifth straight victory.

After colliding with teammate Darcy Graham during the defeat by Ireland on February 9, 2017, fly-half Russell has been declared fit to play.

“Finn is obviously a good player, we all know he’s a good player and he requires a certain amount of attention”, said England captain Itoje.

“]But] just as with France, same with Scotland, you can’t focus on any one player”.

Russell, 32, made the ‘ Pass of the Century ‘ to release Huw Jones for a clean break during Scotland’s 25-13 win that ended an eight-game losing run in 2018.

The fly-half’s impressive 2018 display, including an assist for Duhan van der Merwe’s try two years later, helped the visitors to their first victory since 1983 at the home of English rugby, with a try-scoring, man-of-the-match display at Twickenham in 2019.

In 2022, Russell’s clever cross-field kick forced England into conceding a penalty try in Scotland’s 20-17 win at Murrayfield and, last year, another perfectly weighted kick wide handed Van der Merwe a hat-trick in a fourth consecutive Scottish victory.

Itoje added: “Rugby is, in my opinion, the greatest team game there is and no one can do it all by themselves.

” Whilst we need to make him]Russell] have a bad day at the office, we also have to pay respect to their back row, wingers, tight five, his inside-back partners.

“Throughout their entire team, they face a number of threats. They all have excellent rugby skills and play well. We must follow a consistent strategy throughout the entire game.

Russell may have a slightly different spelling when compared to his first name, but the similarities vanish when it comes to experience.

Scotland’s fly-half will win his 84th cap on Saturday, while England’s Fin Smith, aged 22, will make just his second Test start.

Their rivalry has grown from the club game as Smith’s Northampton Saints overcame Russell’s Bath in last season’s Premiership final.

In the 2024-25 campaign, Russell has scored more points, beaten more defenders and had more touches than Smith, who in contrast has made more successful and dominant tackles.

Smith retains the England number 10 jersey after his measured, man-of-the-match display against France, which resulted in late tries for Tommy Freeman and Elliot Daly, while Russell will want to get his hands on the ball and influence the game once more.

Ollie Lawrence, an England player who plays for the Bath team and has watched Smith develop from an academy prospect to a Worcester Warriors player, claims the younger man is not under any pressure to emulate the Scot.

“I don’t really think there’s too much pressure on Fin, certainly we aren’t putting pressure on him to step up or anything like that”, said Lawrence.

“We were placed in the right areas of the field because of how he controlled the game against France.” He managed to set up that try]for Daly] at the end, which was testament to how he’s come on as a player.

” Ever since he left Worcester and went to]Northampton] Saints, he’s only gone like this]upwards].

“Finn Russell is a top ten player, a great player, and I have a lot of respect for him.” Fin must not be compared to the other Finn during the game, as I am by no means.

” He’ll do his thing, he’s a confident lad and we’ll back him all the way. In an England shirt, he has a lot more potential and a lot more to show.

After a relatively quiet game against Italy before his match-up against Ireland’s Sam Prendergast was halted due to his head injury, Russell was the last fly-half to wear the British and Irish Lions jersey in a Test match. However, he hasn’t been as successful in this Six Nations.