British and Irish Lions 2017: Allan Dell and Finn Russell frustrated not to play more but take pride in 'Geography Six'

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Allan Dell and Finn Russell have spoken of their pride at playing for the British and Irish Lions, despite being engulfed in the ‘Geography Six’ that has caused so much controversy on the tour of New Zealand, but admitted they would have preferred to have played a bigger role for the side.

The Scottish pair were the only ones of the six players called up mid-tour by Warren Gatland that saw any playing time during the 10 days that they spent with the squad, with Dell playing 12 minutes in the victory over the Chiefs last week after Joe Marler was sent to the sin-bin and Russell coming on in draw with the Hurricanes on Tuesday when Dan Biggar required a head injury assessment.

Gatland’s decision not to play any of the six call-ups for a reason other than injury or sin-bin cost the Lions a victory against the Hurricanes, with a tiring mid-week side conceding 14 points in three minutes to draw their final warm-up match. It has triggered further criticism of the head coach for deciding not to play the likes of Kristian Dacey, Tomas Francis, Cory Hill and Gareth Davies, even though he made the bold decision to bring them in due to their close proximity to the tour.

The sextet will now head home after fulfilling their duties on the tour, and while they were happy to receive the call-up to the squad, both Dell and Russell would have liked to have had a bigger impact.

“It's something you jump at and could be a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said South African-born prop Dell. “And we've been privileged enough to receive that opportunity, and fortunate enough to get games.

“Obviously it wasn't as much time as we would have liked, and we haven't been able to show what we're fully capable of, but it's still fantastic and you're just not going to say no to the Lions.”

Russell added: “It's awesome to get a cap and get out there. It would have been good if it could have been a bit longer, but it is what it is. It's still awesome getting a cap. It's been an experience.”

Gatland is sure to face further questions on this matter ahead of the second Test this weekend, having admitted after the Hurricanes draw that the backlash he received for his original decision to call the players up to the squad led him not to play them because it would “devalue the shirt”.

There were reports too that one Scottish player chose to turn down the chance to join the Lions squad and decided instead to remain with the national team for their defeat by Fiji at the weekend. However, both Russell and Dell rejected that claim, and stressed that everyone who was asked made themselves immediately available because of the prestige that the Lions holds.

“I don't think anyone would turn down the Lions!” said Russell. “No one said no, and no one would.”

Dell added: “It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, and no one would turn it down. A career's too short to turn down opportunities like this.

“Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, but we knew the truth of that all along. Reading things like that doesn't really bother you. It's a free world.”

Having seen the most playing time of the six players, Dell also had the accolade of winning a penalty in his very first scrum, and the Scot admitted that it was a good feeling that helped him to feel like he had made a difference on the tour, no matter how small.

“You can't really process it at this stage,” he said. “It was a crazy moment at that time. When Joe got the yellow card, you think 'okay, this is it'.

“And once you get onto the field it's just business as usual. The scrum is one of the top jobs, and obviously the first one went very well. That's a fond memory I'll always have and will never forget.

“It's a pity not to stay on longer, but anything to help the team and that's my little contribution. Hopefully it was good enough.”