Finn Russell was delighted to have helped guide Racing 92 to the Heineken Champions Cup final.
The Scotland stand-off was at the heart of their win over defending champions Saracens in Paris on Saturday, and is now setting his sights on next month’s final.
Racing 92 advance to the @ChampionsCup final! 💙
The Parisians end the defence of Saracens' crown.#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/PNPTAMf6bI
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) September 26, 2020
Finn Russell creates match-winning moment
The Scotland stand-off was at the heart of the match-winning move, chipping for Virimi Vakatawa, before supporting and offering the scoring pass to Juan Imhoff.
The 77th-minute try proved decisive in downing the defending champions, and Russell was pleased to see his side come out on top of a scrappy contest at La Défense Arena.
“Saracens are an outstanding team and it’s never going to be easy,” he told Channel 4 post-match.
“It was always going to be a tough game in a semi-final, but thankfully we’ve always got something up our sleeve.”
Racing face Exeter Chiefs in final
Racing will now face Exeter Chiefs in the final at Bristol’s Ashton Gate on October 17, after the Sandy Park club beat four-time champions Toulouse in the other semi-final.
And Russell knows exactly what it would mean for the Paris club to win a first European title.
“It means so much to us as a club,” the 49-cap Scotland playmaker added.
“I’ve not managed to make a final before here, and chatting to the boys it means so much to try and get the first star on the jersey.”
First European final for Finn Russell
While October 17 will see Russell play in a first European final, the 2017 British and Irish Lion has experience of finals rugby.
In 2015, he steered Glasgow Warriors to the Guinness PRO12 title in Belfast, beating Munster in the Grand Final, and he’ll need to call upon all of his international experience too if Racing are to topple Exeter, whose side for the final is likely to include Scotland captain Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray, with Sam Skinner and Sam Hidalgo-Clyne also playing their part for the Devon outfit in the semi-finals.
Main image credit: Embed from Getty Images
