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Rory Lawson says Finn Russell 'arguably best there has ever been', targets Scotland Quilter Nations Series win over All Blacks
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Updated 31/10/2025 at 07:59 GMT
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Former Scotland player Rory Lawson believes Finn Russell may be the best player of all time, and thinks he would be more highly regarded if he played for a team such as South Africa or New Zealand. While Russell is not playing for Scotland against the United States on Saturday, Lawson is aiming for a win at Murrayfield. Scotland face New Zealand in the Quilter Nations Series the following week.
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Former Scotland scrum-half Rory Lawson backed Finn Russell as "arguably the best there has ever been" ahead of the Quilter Nations Series match against the All Blacks.
Scotland play their opening match of the series on Saturday, live on TNT Sports and discovery+, against the United States, but then face New Zealand the following weekend.
Speaking to TNT Sports, 31-cap former player Lawson was asked to give a verdict on where Scotland stand ahead of the coming series.
The 44-year-old believes that the recent Lions tour has given the Scottish players who were involved an advantage after being exposed to some of the best players in the world.
He explained: "Scotland have got a really big couple of years ahead of them leading up to the Rugby World Cup, but I think at the moment, now is a time whereby you’ve got a bigger handful of players who have just come off the Lions tour, having understood now what it really looks like at the top end of the game.
"They’ll have learned a lot from the Irish, Welsh and English within that squad while being away. They’ll have learned a lot from different cultures. So I think now’s the time for this group to really capitalise."
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Discussing the coach Gregor Townsend, Lawson backed his contract extension as they prepare for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, but believes that Scotland need to pull off wins against the USA, Argentina and Tonga in the coming matches.
"Gregor Townsend, there’s a little bit of pressure on him to pick off some big wins, and I think this Autumn Nations Series provides a really good opportunity for his side to go out and pick up three from four, if not four from four, from the series," he answered.
"I think Gregor is the winning-most coach in Scottish history, so I think he’s definitely got the best crop of players there has been in a long time, in a generation. So I think now the critics out there are saying he needs to have something to show for it.
"Whether that’s a Six Nations, beating the All Black’s this autumn, or going to the Rugby World Cup and reaching the later stages of the knockout.
"I think it’s great for continuity that Gregor has the opportunity of the full lead-up, and there is significant security and continuity heading into that Rugby World Cup. I think they need a couple of big wins in there to nail down his position as Scotland's best."
Russell will not feature for Scotland against the US after missing the first two games of the season of the Gallagher PREM following his involvement with the Lions tour this summer, but Lawson believes he has done enough to be considered one of the finest to have played the sport.
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He said: "I think Finn Russell is right up there with the very best in the game, and is arguably the best there has ever been. Stick him in behind a Springboks pack, or in a great All Blacks team, I think he becomes the very best in the world.
"We saw in the Lions tour, he was one of the Lions’ standout players. His skillset in the modern game: his kick-pass, his goalkicking is as good as anyone, his kicking from the hand is excellent, his gameplay is unbelievably good, and he has the best distribution in the game. He thinks differently.
"The players around him love playing with him, because they get time on the ball, in space, with mismatches, and I think that’s what the game is all about.
"I think he also plays rugby with a smile on his face, which is going to bring kids into the game, young people into the game, and he makes other people smile. So we need more of him in the world of rugby, to continue to grow the game."
Lawson concluded by saying he hoped that Scotland would finally notch a victory against the All Blacks, and that failure to win against the rest of their opponents would be regarded as something of a failure.
He stated: "[A] successful autumn for Scotland is beating the All Blacks for the first time in their history. I think that would be an amazing achievement. Aside from that, if they don’t beat the All Blacks, three from four is pretty much par, albeit that’s not to underestimate the quality of the Pumas [Argentina].
"They are a very, very good team and Scotland should comfortably beat the USA, and they should comfortably beat Tonga. If they don’t win one or both of the other two, it will be a disappointing autumn."
Van der Merwe to hit 50 caps against USA
Prolific Scotland winger Duhan van der Merwe will win his 50th cap on Saturday in the Quilter Nations Series opener against USA at Murrayfield, TNT Sports and discovery+.
The 30-year-old has notched up 32 international tries since making his Scotland debut in October 2020.
Gregor Townsend has also stuck with Stafford McDowall as captain after he took the role for a summer match against New Zealand Maori and against Portugal last autumn.
Edinburgh back-row Liam McConnell will make his debut, with hooker and clubmate Harri Morris ready to come off the bench for his first cap.
With the Test taking place outside the international window, Adam Hastings steps in for the unavailable Finn Russell in a squad comprised entirely of Scottish-based players.
Scotland line-up v USA
Scotland: 15. K. Rowe, 14. D. Graham, 13. O. Smith, 12. S. McDowall, 11. D. van der Merwe, 10. A. Hastings, 9. J. Dobie, 1. R. Sutherland, 2. P. Harrison, 3. D. Rae, 4. S. Cummings, 5. M. Sykes, 6. L. McConnell, 7. D. Richardson, 8. J. Dempsey.
Replacements. 16. H. Morris, 17. N. McBeth, 18. M. Walker, 19. A. Samuel, 20. M. Williamson, 21. M. Bradbury, 22. G. Horne, 23. R. Thompson.
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