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.
