South Africa 19-16 British and Irish Lions: Finn Russell 'excellent' despite loss
- Published
Finn Russell was playing his first game in a month after injury
Head coach Warren Gatland offered qualified praise to Finn Russell after the British and Irish Lions suffered an agonising series loss to South Africa.
The Scot missed the first two tests - a win then defeat - after suffering a torn Achilles a month ago on tour.
But he was an 11th-minute replacement in Saturday's 19-16 reverse, kicking 11 of their points at Cape Town Stadium.
"For someone who hasn't played a lot of rugby, I thought he was excellent," Gatland said.
Russell seized his chance at fly-half after Welshman Dan Biggar limped off with an ankle injury.
The last of his three successful penalties drew the Lions level at 16-16 with five minutes remaining only for South African substitute Morne Steyn to provide the decisive kick with 60 seconds left.
"Finn was good," Gatland said. "We talked about moving the ball more and the ball went through his hands a lot, which was good.
"We shortened them up on a few occasions when we went to fourth or fifth phase and that created some space for us."
However, demanding New Zealander Gatland insisted it was not a faultless performance by Russell.
"He'll be disappointed that he's dropped a ball in the air that he would normally take and he was unlucky on the tackle," he said.
"Probably a left-foot kick down the middle of the park wasn't one of his best moments, but he showed how quick he can get the ball through his hands and created some stuff."
With Scotland wing Duhan Van der Merwe and scrum-half Ali Price in the starting line-up, the Lions led 10-6 at half-time but missed opportunities to establish a bigger lead over the world champions.
"I'm disappointed obviously, but I'm really proud of the effort the boys put in," Gatland added.