Six Nations 2020: Gregor Townsend coy over Finn Russell return for Scotland v England Calcutta Cup clash

Gregor Townsend praised stand-in playmaker Adam Hastings for his contribution in Dublin

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said “we will see” when asked if Finn Russell would return to the camp ahead of Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash at BT Murrayfield, but hinted it could be “difficult” for him to make an immediate comeback.

The Racing 92 playmaker was excluded from Saturday’s opening 19-12 Six Nations defeat by Ireland following a disciplinary breach two weeks ago when he left the team hotel after a drinking session and didn’t show up for training the next day.

Adam Hastings, the 23-year-old Glasgow stand-off took the No 10 jersey at the Aviva Stadium and performed impressively in what was another frustrating away loss in the competition.

“We will see. It is not something I have thought about since the end of the game,” said Townsend.

“We had two weeks training and cohesion was very important in our selection this week. Players who missed two or three days training did not get selected for that. I believe cohesion helped how we played today.

“When you have five or six training sessions before you play Ireland away you have to make sure your players are in those. [Edinburgh loosehead] Rory Sutherland, the Glasgow midfield [Sam Johnson and Huw Jones], those who have been able to train, has helped our preparation. It helped the performance.

“For anybody who has missed the last two weeks it will be difficult to get into a squad.”

Townsend backs Hogg

Saturday’s match turned on a costly error by new captain Stuart Hogg early in the second half when he botched a chance to potentially level things up at 13-13 when he crossed in the left corner but failed to ground the ball.

“He played very well. We don’t judge players on one mistake in the game – there’s hundreds of mistakes in any game – and we did get three points from that [a subsequent Hastings penalty],” said the coach.

“We had other opportunities to score five and seven points, and he’ll be fine and will bounce back. I think he’s a real driving force as captain of this side.

“He has led the team well the last two weeks. He was ill on Thursday and missed training and was in his bed. We had two players ill this morning [including Simon Berghan who dropped off the bench and was replaced by WP Nel. A couple of players were injured.

“The adversity the team has gone through and how Stuart has led the team with so many challenges in front of him gives me great encouragement how great a captain he can be over the next few years.”

Hastings 'excellent'

On Hastings, who revealed he had avoided his Twitter account in the lead-up to the match to avoid any distractions and had received a good-luck text message from Russell on Friday, Townsend said: “He was excellent. We could all have done with more possession in his hands.

"The first five minutes and different times in the first half he was making some good decisions when to attack, his passing was excellent and he defended well.

“He got penalised for two high tackles and I will have to have a look at them. He was putting his body into tackles and to think that was his first six nations start he was a running threat.

“Defences have to look at him and he mixed up his passing game, whether short or out the back. I was very pleased with his performance.”