Finn Russell: Racing 92 fly-half ‘frustrated’ after another Champions Cup failure
2J7E5YA Paris, France - 08/05/2022, Finn Russell, Max Spring of Racing 92 during the European Rugby Champions Cup, Quarter-finals rugby union match between Racing 92 and Sale Sharks on May 8, 2022 at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre near Paris, France - Photo: Jean Catuffe/DPPI/LiveMedia
Racing 92 fly-half Finn Russell bemoaned his team’s missed opportunities after another European Champions Cup campaign ultimately ended in disappointment.
The Parisians were ousted at the semi-final stage by fellow French outfit La Rochelle, who claimed a 20-13 triumph in Lens.
Racing impressed in the early stages, going 10-0 ahead after half-an-hour, but Ronan O’Gara’s men eventually clawed their way back into the contest.
It was still finely balanced in the final 10 minutes, with La Rochelle only 15-13 in front, but Ihaia West’s late try killed off any Racing hopes.
Lacking a killer instinct
“We didn’t go in at half-time as far ahead as we wanted,” Russell said.
“Second half we had a couple of chances, we didn’t manage to finish them off. Off their driving maul, we got two yellow cards, they score a penalty try. It was a frustrating game.”
Despite consistently getting to the latter stages of Europe’s top tier competition, Racing have yet to lift the trophy.
They have succumbed in three Champions Cup finals – in 2016, 2018 and 2020 – and once again fell short at the weekend, failing to set up a clash with Leinster in the showpiece event.
Russell stated following their quarter-final triumph over Sale Sharks that European success was their main target this season, but the Parisians will now have to turn their attentions to the Top 14.
“For most of the game I’d say we were the better team but in knockout rugby it’s the team that has the most points at the end that is the better team, effectively,” the Scotland fly-half added.
“It’s frustrating for us. We put everything into this tournament and we’ve come up short.
“For us we’ve got to get straight back into the league next week. We’ll look at Europe again next year but that will come next season. We’ll review the game but we’ve got to get straight back into next week away to Montpellier and try to win the Top 14 now.”
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