Pat_Bateman:
The only reason for me that Russell loses his spot in the team is teams really target him in defence and to good effect. Powell stated in his post match interview that Russell has things in his game he needs to work on……. Same could be said about most I reckon.
Lino at 7 and Trueman at 6 defensively is more solid than Lino at 6 and Russell at 7 in my opinion. I have been critical of Lino in attack at times but his defensive is really good, he’s a nasty little sod which I love about him. Either way it’s a lovely position to be in and given that Russell scored 2 tries and managed to tough out their relentless attacking pressure on his edge gives Russell the nod for next week.
Wasn't a fan of Russell when he was at shudds and to be honest I wasn't impressed when he signed for us and although there was some improvement last night I'm still not convinced, but I do have faith in Powell who knows far more than me and It would really give me great pleasure if he brings the best out of him and makes me admit I got it wrong about him, lets hope so.
