The final break Russell's perfect timing for Bath may yield long-awaited Test start for Lions

Had Handre Pollard done his homework, he might have known what was coming - for Finn Russell has previous with intercepts when attacking Twickenham's south stand.

- Gerard Meagher

Had Handre Pollard done his homework, he might have known what was coming - for Finn Russell has previous with intercepts when attacking Twickenham's south stand. It was playing that way that he picked off Owen Farrell's pass before streaking clear in the madcap 38-38 draw between England and Scotland in 2019. And he was at it again on Saturday, coming up with the decisive moment in Bath's dogged Premiership final victory over Leicester.

On this occasion he did not finish off the try himself - you suspect he probably could have - instead flinging a nonchalant pass inside to the onrushing Max Ojomoh. In a final short on champagne moments, it put the fizz in Bath's performance, extending their lead to 20-7 before a second penalty of the match proved pivotal in ensuring the 29-year wait for a Premiership title was over.

Listen to him explain his decision to make the pass to Ojomoh - whose father, Steve, was part of the Bath side that last won the title, in 1996 - and you get a pretty good idea of how the coach, Johann van Graan, has been able to end that wait, three years after taking charge of a club that was full of high-quality individuals, less so an emphasis on the collective.