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In summers gone by, Finn Russell would have spent his off-season in the likes of Ibiza or Monte Carlo enjoying, by his own admission, the fruits of his labour.
Now, though, things are different for the maverick playmaker.
‘We had our second child in the summer and it’s obviously a big lifestyle change having kids,’ said Russell, as the countdown gets started to the 2024/25 season.
‘In time off in the past I’d have tended to go on holiday and probably party a fair bit. I liked my lifestyle before I had kids! But it’s probably been a good thing for me.
‘I’m 31 now and I’ve probably been waiting to have kids for a couple of years. It’s changed my lifestyle. I feel I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in.
Finn Russell admits his partying days are behind him and is in the best shape of his career
Russell now prefers to spend his off-season with partner Emma and daughters Charlie (pictured) and new arrival Skye
The Scotland and Bath star believes he is rested, refreshed and lighter after lifestyle changes
‘I’m probably as light as I’ve been in eight years. I wouldn’t necessarily have put weight on in the past. But I came back in for this pre-season half a kilo down just from doing nothing.
‘I think my training load and diet is different now. I’m having to cook a lot more food in the house with the children. Previously, me and my partner would eat out all the time.
‘A few lifestyle changes have made a big difference.’
A rested, refreshed, and lighter Russell represents good news not only for him, but for those of a Bath and Scottish persuasion. As one of the best fly-halves on the planet, Russell is a central figure for club and country. He believes he is in the prime of his career after a prolonged rest.
Russell missed Scotland’s summer tour matches after helping Bath to last term’s Gallagher Premiership final where they were beaten by Northampton.
‘I was keen to go on the tour, but Gregor Townsend told me in the Six Nations I wasn’t going to. I think it’s more for the mental side, to get away from it,’ said Russell, a TNT Sports ambassador.
‘Physically, I feel good now. That mental switch off has been good this summer.
‘I’ll be in a better place for the season coming up.
Russell believes he has benefitted from a mental switch off after missing Scotland’s summer tour matches
He missed the matches after helping Bath to the Premiership final, where they were beaten by Northampton
‘In 2021/22, I was about eight kilos heavier then than I am now which probably shows where I was mentally. I’d put weight on and that showed when I played.
‘I’ve lost a few kilos from when I finished last season which is good. It was weight I probably wanted to lose. It’s a big year with the Lions at the end of it, but you can’t think too much about it at this stage because otherwise it will just drain you mentally.
‘The main thing for me is to leave that up to Andy Farrell. That’s his job. All I can do is my best for Bath and continue that form with Scotland. When I think back to that 2021 Lions series, I think I had three-and-a-half weeks off and then I was back playing after that.
‘This year I’ve had five weeks holiday and then another eight weeks training. It’s a very big difference. Mentally this season I’m going to be a lot better coming back.’
Russell and his long-term partner Emma are now parents to two daughters in new arrival Skye who is the most recent addition alongside sibling Charlie. Russell has been kept busy as a result, his new family putting the pain of a Premiership final defeat into perspective. Russell isn’t one to let on-field issues impact his life away from rugby.
One of the game’s most relaxed figures, he has found a new lease of life with Bath after previous stints with Glasgow and Racing 92 in Paris.
The next World Cup, in 2027, is already in Russell’s sights. He isn’t going anywhere. Such news is a boost for a game which badly needs more players and characters like Russell as it continues to struggle for its place in the sporting landscape amid financial and sporting governance issues.
It was unsurprising that Russell’s willingness to stand out from the crowd made him a star of Six Nations: Full Contact – the Netflix documentary series on the Championship.
Russell admits he faces a big year with the aim to get into Andy Farrell’s Lions squad
His willingness to stand out from the crowd made him a star of the Six Nations: Full Contact documentary
Russell, entre, was among the stars featured in the Netflix documentary on the Six Nations
‘I’ll be 32 in September. Usually, my birthday is in the World Cup, so I’ll be turning 35 during the (2027) tournament. I’m definitely planning on making that World Cup,’ said Russell.
‘I’ve not got any notion of retiring any time soon. I want to keep playing as long as I can. Some players might have an idea that at 34 they will call it a day and get a job.
‘But as long as I’m still enjoying it and playing well, there is no point in me stopping. You get a lot of lows in sport, but the highs you get you can’t get anywhere else.’ Since his 2014 Test debut, Russell has represented his country at three World Cups in 2015, 2019 and 2023, winning a total of 80 caps.
‘Having young kids now, I’d love for them to be old enough to remember some of my career. I might have to play until I’m 45 if I have another one,’ Russell said with a laugh.
‘I’ve got photos of me and my daughter at Murrayfield running around and at Bath, but she won’t remember any of those. In another four or five years, she’ll remember them.
‘I wouldn’t say it is a goal I need, but it’s something I’d love to have. I’ve got no intention of finishing up from rugby. I’m going to play as long as I can.’
Russell’s commitment to Scotland for the next four-year cycle is a big boost for their national head coach Townsend. The two have not always seen eye-to-eye.
Russell and Townsend had previously had a fractious relationship which led to the fly-half leaving the Scotland squad in 2020 and not being selected for the autumn series of 2022.
Russell has committed to Scotland for another four-year cycle to the next Rugby World Cup
He is a key figure under head coach Gregor Townsend despite not always seeing eye to eye
But, as they say, time is a great healer. Russell was made Scotland co-captain for the 2023 Six Nations in a reflection of the new-found harmony he has with Townsend.
The pair couldn’t help Scotland out of a group of death at last year’s World Cup but after that tournament, Russell immediately hot-footed it to Bath after five years with French side Racing.
He made an immediate and significant impact in his first season.
After years of criminal underachievement, Bath were only denied a league title success at the last hurdle by Northampton. Russell’s team was hit hard by a final red card for prop Beno Obano. Even with 14 men, they nearly recorded a backs-to-the-wall victory.
‘We’ve settled in really well (at Bath). My partner is loving it. We’re looking forward to the season that’s coming. Hopefully, it will be good like last season,’ Russell said.
‘In Bath, it feels like it’s only rugby. There are a few cafes and restaurants we go to often. We chat away to other people and they seem very friendly which is nice.
‘Whether that’s because we had a good season and everyone is friendly and happy, I don’t know. If results had gone another way, it might have been different!
‘So far, I’ve loved it. It’s a good little city. My partner is more in town than I am because of training.
On days off, we’ll go in with the kids. I’ve got one of those SUPER73 bikes, a hybrid one.
‘I take that down with my little one on the front and cycle around with her which is nice.
‘Getting back into a final gives you that taste for it again. We got so close in that one, so yes it drives you a little bit more. You’re always driven to win. We could have won that final.
Russell is the central figure at Bath under their impressive South African head of rugby Johann van Graan, pictured
Russell is enjoying life in Bath, who will expect to be among the Premiership title contenders
‘It had been a long time since I’d been in one. We’ve got to get better to get to that final again. We want it again. Those big games are what I love playing for, but it’s not going to just happen. ‘We have to go out from the start and play as well as we can. We can’t look back on last season and think “We got to the final, we’ll get there again”.
‘It’s back to square one. As a group, we’re in a good place right now. We’ve not had too many changes, so it should be easy to slip back in.’
Under the guidance of impressive South African head of rugby Johann van Graan, Bath should be there or thereabouts as Premiership title contenders this season.
Russell is their linchpin, their headline act and driving force. But Van Graan has a wealth of talent to draw on including Russell’s Scotland colleague Cameron Redpath.
With two young children, Russell’s downtime away from rugby is focused on his family. But, he has one thing which he enjoys and, unsurprisingly, it is another sport.
‘My brother-in-law Ewen Ferguson is a golfer. I know Bob McIntrye a bit too, so I’ve taken a bit more of an interest in golf since getting to know those guys,’ Russell said.
‘I’m inconsistent when I play. I think goalkicking and a golf swing have a lot similarities between them. I don’t get frustrated when I play golf because I don’t take it seriously enough to get frustrated. I think the worst part of my game is that if there is a 350-yard par four, I’m going to try and drive the green rather than thinking, “I could hit a nice three-wood or iron here.”
‘I’m always going to go for it. That’s the sort of golf I like to play.’
His ambitions for the new season will start with leading Bath to an English league title
That, for those who know Russell’s character, is unsurprising.
He continued: ‘In rugby, I’ve obviously got more control of the ball because I’ve done it for longer. In golf, I can see the shots. I can’t always execute them.
‘I’ll try something and then duff it one yard. But I love the creativity you can have with golf, which is similar to the creativity you can have on the rugby field.’
Russell’s ambitions for the new season will start with leading Bath to an English league title.
He will then remain a central figure for Scotland, quite likely as captain, for their autumn internationals and in the 2025 Six Nations before the focus turns to the Lions in Australia next summer – a tour which will be headed up by Farrell, currently in charge of Ireland.
Earlier this week, Russell indicated his eagerness to make that trip to the southern hemisphere for what would be his third tour after a late call-up to New Zealand in 2017 and the 2021 Covid-impacted series with South Africa. While there is still a long way to go until the summer of 2025, Russell is surely likely to make that trip, possibly as the Test No 10.
He is, however, right not to look too far ahead. That said, everyone – including Russell – must always have one eye on the future.
‘The mindset has been right,’ he said of Bath’s pre-season.
‘A few of the boys have been driving the standards when last season they might have been a little bit quieter. That shows that last season has had a knock-on effect on everyone in the team. ‘Although it (the final defeat) was tough to take, it will be good for us.
Russell is eager for a third Lions call-up and would likely make the trip, possible as No 10
He remains a key figure for Scotland and will likely captain the team during the Six Nations
‘It (life after rugby) is something I have looked at the last few years. I have brought some properties and I’m about to buy some more. I am not too sure what I want to do after.
‘I am 32 next month but I am thinking I have still got seven years to go! I just want to set everything up while I am playing, so I can finish when I want to and not be forced into something.
‘If I was to do coaching, I would like to be a consultant coach, helping youngers No 10’s coming through. I think I have got a slightly different mindset to a lot of players.
‘I can make a mistake and as I have done it, I have forgotten about it pretty much. Trying to get that mindset across to others is something I would quite like.
‘A lot of young players go into their shell quite quickly. My game is potentially different to some of the coaches and players out there. I would look at different avenues like that.
‘Having kids, I still want to be flexible enough to spend as much time as I can with them. I’m hoping they play golf so I can do that with them and get my handicap lower!’
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