Scotland 28-12 Fiji: Finn Russell 'in mix' should Adam Hastings miss New Zealand Test
- Published
Adam Hastings went off injured in Saturday's win over Fiji
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has refused to rule out a recall for Finn Russell if Adam Hastings misses out against New Zealand through injury.
Hastings was forced off early in the second half during Saturday's 28-12 win over Fiji with a head knock and is also having a knee injury assessed.
Fly-half Russell had been omitted from the autumn internationals, with Hastings and Blair Kinghorn preferred.
"If Adam is out, Finn would be in the mix, of course," Townsend insisted.
Scotland next Sunday host a New Zealand side who on Saturday crushed Wales 55-23 in Cardiff and Russell pressed his case by scoring a try, three conversions and a penalty for Racing 92 as they defeated Perpignan 44-20 in France's Top 14.
Townsend had claimed Russell had been omitted due to question marks over the 30-year-old number 10's "form and consistency" levels amid speculation there had been a breakdown in relations between the head coach and player.
After the victory over Fiji at Murrayfield, Townsend said he had not spoken to Russell since informing him last month he was not in the original squad, but the head coach insisted that is not unusual.
"If people are not in the squad, I don't phone them up regularly unless there's something to talk about," he said. "But I'd imagine he'd be available.
"He was disappointed not to be in the squad. If we decide to bring another 10, he'll be one of the ones we'll be looking at."
Townsend was pleased with the way his side overcame a poor first-half display to beat Fiji.
He also rejected the suggestion that Scotland were developing a reputation as a team that gives away penalties as he pointed out that they had fewer than their opponents last week against Australia and against Fiji.
"We learned a lesson in that first half and it was much better in the second half," the Scotland boss said. "We improved to win the game, but there are certainly things we'll have to improve for next week."
Fiji head coach Vern Cotter - who was in charge of Scotland between 2014 and 2017 - rued the fact his side were unable to build on their first-half pressure by going in ahead at half-time after Hastings scored a try just before the break to swing the game back in the hosts' favour.
"There was a missed opportunity about 10 minutes before half-time when they were down to 14 men and, if we got a lift off the scrum, I think we could have walked over," he added.
"It's very hard to win a Test match with three yellow cards, but I thought the guys defended well."