Finn Russell's Calcutta Cup availability delights Scotland co-captain Rory Darge
Rory Darge says it is 'massive' to have fellow co-captain Finn Russell available to aid Scotland's pursuit of Calcutta Cup history.
Gregor Townsend's side are bidding to continue their recent domination against rivals England by recording an unprecedented fifth consecutive win in the fixture.
Influential fly-half Russell has been passed fit to start Saturday's Guinness Six Nations showdown at the Allianz Stadium after recovering from a nasty head knock suffered in his country's round-two loss to Ireland.
Your Scotland team for Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash.
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— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 20, 2025
Glasgow flanker Darge, who is preparing for the first Twickenham outing of his career, said: 'Finn plays a lot of his best rugby in a Scotland shirt.
'He's played lots and lots of games for us now, so it will be big having him back.
'It's massive isn't it? He's obviously world-class, great to play with and really important to us as a team, so delighted that he's fit.
'It's a big boost. He has so much experience playing for Scotland and his talent speaks for itself.'
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Advertisement Alas for them, it was not. St Johnstone were relegated for the first time since 2002, just four years on from them winning a Scottish Cup/League Cup double in the greatest season of their 141-year history — indeed, perhaps the best pound-for-pound season football in Scotland has ever seen. Webb, who bought the club from local businessman Geoff Brown last summer after three tough seasons that saw them finish 11th, ninth and 10th in the 12-team Premiership, says he has no qualms about his commitment now they've finally succumbed to the drop. He tells The Athletic: 'It's not that we are going to lose interest, it is that (the fans) are going to be disappointed in us. Are people going to blame us that, in our first year, we got relegated? 'We are fighting our perception as unwise owners to come in and have this happen, but I think people who have been studying it can see that we have been giving the resources to the football people. We are in a pretty good place to succeed and get back up, to reinvigorate the club. 'It is not a positive, obviously, but it is a chance to take the steps that need to be taken to make the future bright. It is an inflexion point. We will be in a league (next season) where we will be expected to do well. Let's use it as a springboard.' Webb grew up in Columbus, Georgia, where he played football in high school before studying law at Harvard University. He then started his own firm in Atlanta. St Johnstone are not his first involvement in British football — he owns 10 per cent of Cambridge United, who have just been relegated to League Two, England's fourth tier. Webb bought the club based in Perth, a short drive west of Dundee, with a group of fellow investors in early July, but just two weeks later received the news he had cancer in his neck. Months of debilitating chemotherapy and radiation treatment, which he is still feeling the effects of, could have been taken as a sign to focus on his recovery and perhaps pass the club on to someone else. Advertisement 'After something like that, you feel high on life,' Webb argues. 'And when you get to my age, mid-fifties, your kids are leaving the roost and you think, 'What are going to be some of my hobbies, goals, aspirations with this phase of my life?' For me, football and St Johnstone are it.' Webb says he's experienced 'universal embrace' and was part of the Scottish equivalent of a 'pep rally' at a local pub before the first game of the season. He now has a home beside the nearby River Tay and plans to spend the bulk of his summer there. 'I could have bought a beach house (instead) and had some very nice vacations,' Webb laughs. The full drama of St Johnstone's season has been filmed as part of a fly-on-the-wall documentary that hopes to project what makes Scottish football so intoxicating. 'It might not have the money, but it's still got the soul,' says Webb. 'We can certainly be the people's club, because we have a lot going for us. A beautiful community in the heart of Scotland, 140 years of tradition and a place that people could come to love and appreciate as they have Sunderland or Wrexham (after those clubs featured in recent documentary series over recent years). 'We don't have a Ryan Reynolds on board. If you know a Ryan Reynolds type — let me know.' The club are working with experts to improve the matchday experience for families to try to get attendances back up to what they used to be. Webb is also planning a club museum and shop in Perth's city centre, next to the building that houses the Stone of Destiny — a block of red sandstone used in the coronation of Scottish and British monarchs for centuries. He has partnered with a U.S. analytics company, is investing in the academy infrastructure and seeking to build St Johnstone's football budget every year, but says he will not be pumping in millions. 'We have to find an edge to compete, because we're a smaller club in a smaller city, and we're going to run a sustainable club,' he says. 'Owners always get tired after a few years of putting in money. I don't know if I would, but I think I would if I were five, 10 years into this and every year I'm putting in a million or more dollars. I might get sick of it. Advertisement 'By then, you've built up a residual cost, staff and systems that are going to sink the club. So it's just better, even if you want to put money in, to shoot to break even.' Webb will be planning St Johnstone's boomerang back into the top division during his stay in Perth this summer, and he may head home to the States with a few local phrases in his increasingly mixed vocabulary. 'The exoticness of a Scot still exists when you hear the accent,' he laughs. ''You cannae score if you dinnae shoot!' (You can't score if you don't shoot) is one I love. Just as well we have subtitles on the documentary!' (Top photos: Ogren, left, and Marathe: Getty Images)
