Ex-Falkirk ace Finn Russell facing fitness battle ahead of Scotland v Argentina

Scotland’s talisman, 33, suffered two injuries during the agonising Test defeat to the All Blacks last weekend. He required treatment on his knee on more than one occasion and was eventually substituted after also suffered an ankle issue.

During the 25-17 loss, Russell – who honed his skills at Sunnyside, using Falkirk as a platform to reach full-time rugby – converted twice and scored a penalty that levelled the clash.

Rating his chances of making this Sunday’s Murrayfield outing, head coach Gregor Townsend admitted that it was “too early to say” and Scottish Rugby’s squad update on Tuesday didn’t mention the stand-off.

He explained at the time: “His knee was the initial injury, and I thought he was outstanding, even though he had that knee strain,” Townsend said of Russell. “The reason we took him off was because he had an ankle too, so there were two injuries he was carrying.

“He doesn’t think it’ll be serious. We hope he’ll be fit for next week, but we have to deal with injuries. We had two Lions who weren’t available for the New Zealand game, but we’ve got other players that can step up.”

The Scots had a famous first-ever win over New Zealand in their sights last Saturday when they clawed a cracking tie back to 17-17 but they couldn’t go on to secure the victory.

And that was despite the All Blacks losing a third player to a yellow card early in the fourth quarter. Wallace Sititi was sin-binned on the hour mark, and all the momentum was with the home side.

But the Kiwis rallied got themselves back in front with a sensational finish in the 73rd minute from replacement Damian McKenzie, who then sealed the win with a long-range penalty.

Reviewing what was a bitter blow for the Scots, Townsend said: “The reality is that there’s always a winner and a loser in sport, and this is not the final game in our season or the final game in the players’ careers.

“They’ve got one next week. We’d love to play New Zealand more regularly. We will play them next year in the new Nations Championship, so we just have to make the most of the opportunities we get. But if we don’t, then we make sure we become a better team for it.

“We’ve been a better team off defeats and victories, and even how we played from first half to second half. There were a lot of good things in the first half.

“But to not have your spirit broken by being held up twice, and to concede a try right on half-time, and come back and get to 17-all, and also just dominate all facets of play in that 20-25 minute period, it shows what the team’s capable of.

“We just have to make sure that over the next two weeks we get to build and grow together. You’re only here for a short period of time in November, but that’s a very useful game for us, for the Six Nations too, against a really quality opposition.”

Argentina warmed up for their visit to Murrayfield this Sunday with a record 52-28 win over Wales at the Principality Stadium. The Pumas are the Scots’ third autumn test with the final coming seven days later when Townsend’s team host Tonga.