Scotland's Russell bottom of Six Nations kicking stats

Finn Russell's wayward form off the tee has cost more points than any other front-line kicker in this year's Six Nations, according to Opta stats.

Russell, who missed only one of 24 kicks in last season's tournament, has landed just three from eight in Scotland's three matches so far this campaign.

Opta's 'expected points' model - which predicts a cumulative points return based on where kicks are taken from, a kicker's previous success rate and even venue-specific factors such as altitude - says Russell has landed 5.3 fewer points than expected in this edition of the Six Nations.

The expected points return from Russell's three conversions attempts against England on Saturday was 3.7.

Instead the 32-year-old, who was so influential in Scotland's dynamic first half, missed all three - including a potential last-minute match-winner - as his side lost 16-15 at Twickenham.

Russell's final kick was from a tough angle, out on the left touchline, but could potentially have been slightly easier.

Wing Duhan van der Merwe went in out wide when, despite cover from England's Tommy Freeman, it appeared he could have improved the angle for Russell's kick.

"Duhan van der Merwe has to do better here," said former England and British and Irish Lions wing Ugo Monye on Rugby Special as he analysed the try.

"He is running away from the sticks on an outside angle. When you look at the margins of how much he has run out and how much Russell's kick missed by... I don't know, but as a wing you have do everything you can to try and help out."

There also seemed to be a discrepancy between where Van der Merwe scored the try and the position of the final conversion, with Russell kicking two metres or so closer to the touchline.

Video footage seemed to show referee Pierre Brousset instructing Russell to take the kick closer to the touchline after he initially placed his tee correctly., external

Opta's data suggests that taking the conversion in line with where Van der Merwe touched down, rather than the wider angle, would have raised Russell's chance of success from 55% to 58%.

His other misses came in the fifth and 20th minutes, both on the left-hand side of the field, with his second attempt in almost the same position as his final kick.

The Scotland co-captain's first conversion attempt came after Ben White's try and was almost 15m in from the touchline.

Italy's Tommaso Allan, who has scored 3.5 points more than expected, has over-performed by the greatest degree off the tee, with England's Fin Smith, who landed both a match-winning conversion against France and a 47m long-range effort among his three kicks, also well in credit.

Blair Kinghorn is statistically Scotland's best kicker, landing three out of four attempts against Ireland in round two after Russell was taken off injured.

England's Marcus Smith, who has kept kicking responsibilities despite his shift from fly-half to full-back, landed all three of his attempts against Scotland, but is down the list after missing two straightforward shots against France in round two.