Russell hoping for strong showing from Bath fans at Premiership final

The Herald Scotland

a day ago

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Russell, who has recovered from cramp which forced him off during the closing stages at The Recreation Ground, hopes to feel plenty of positive vibes from the Twickenham stands on Saturday – in stark to his previous visits when in Scotland blue.
'From what I have heard, a lot of Bath fans bought tickets a while back to make sure they had them, as they did last year,' Russell said.
'A lot of them will be getting the train over to Twickenham at the weekend and it is always good playing in front of a sold-out stadium.
'Having your home fans there, hopefully the majority of tickets are Bath fans, that will be special.'
Scotland vice-captain Russell added: 'I know the other side of playing at Twickenham – usually when I am there, it is 70-odd thousand fans against me.
'But it is always special playing in that stadium and hopefully our fans can make as much noise as possible.'
Russell, 32, remains determined to see Bath put last season's defeat by Northampton behind them and land a first title since 1996.
'I think that motivation has been there for everyone,' said Russell, who has been called up for his third successive Lions tour this summer.
'After getting that final and losing it last year, it is always quite tough to come back in that next year.
'But I think everyone came back in pre-season in good shape and kind of ripped in straight away.
'At the start of the year, the goal was to win the Premiership. We have gotten ourselves in a good spot just now to hopefully go and do that.
'We have almost got back to where we wanted to be and hopefully can go one step further this year.'
Bath finished 11 points clear of Leicester at the top of the Premiership table, having won 14 games.
Johann van Graan's side have already lifted the Premiership Rugby Cup and European Challenge Cup this season as they look to close out the campaign with yet more silverware.
'The playing group have been fantastic and it is great that everybody wants to play in the final, but ultimately, we can only select 23 players,' said Bath head of rugby van Graan.
'In our training again today, it doesn't matter what team you were in, everybody was in (to the session).
'Yes, some individuals will be disappointed, but that's natural.
'We see that as a positive, because everybody wants to play for this team and pulls in the same direction because they want to achieve something together.'