Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has opened the door for Finn Russell to return to the squad after being dropped for the Six Nations for disciplinary reasons.
The Racing 92 playmaker was left out of Scotland's squad to face Ireland in their opening game in Dublin due to him "breaching team protocol" during a drinking session, and Russell didn't feature in the rest of the tournament.
In a subsequent newspaper interview the fly-half claimed he had "no relationship" with the Scottish head-coach and that the situation went beyond that night in Edinburgh.
"This whole situation with Scotland has been made out to be about me wanting to have a drink, when in actual fact, it's about control, respect and trust, on and off the pitch," Russell claimed.
But the pair appeared to have mended fences during rugby's down period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We talked during the Six Nations and we talked after the Six Nations and we have been in regular contact during lockdown," Townsend revealed in a conference call.
"Players and coaches sometimes don't have relationships that are the same all the way through.
"I suppose it's like being in a family, you have highs and lows, you have periods when you don't understand them and they don't understand you."
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