And the Ospreys talisman will be handed the responsibility of outgunning a youthful Scottish back-line, full of GUINNESS PRO12 stars, with Glasgow Warrior Russell at its fulcrum.
Russell has only grown in stature since helping the Warriors to their first-ever GUINNESS PRO12 Final success last May and is Scotland's undisputed first-choice fly-half.
And he has Glasgow teammates Mark Bennett, Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour as weapons to call upon in the back-line.
It is also worth keeping a close eye on the battle in the back-row, as Cardiff Blues skipper Sam Warburton and another Osprey in Justin Tipuric vie to win the battle of the breakdown.
They face another two specialist opensides, Scarlets' John Barclay and Edinburgh's John Hardie, as both Gatland and Vern Cotter bank on their men winning key turnovers.
There is only one change to the Scotland starting XV that lost to England last time out - Edinburgh's Matt Scott absent through injury making it nine GUINNESS PRO12 starters in total.
And Wales have decided to go with the same starting line-up, bolstered by 11 GUINNESS PRO12 representatives, that was involved in the tense 16-16 draw with Ireland against Dublin.
There are changes among the replacements however as Gareth Anscombe comes in for fellow Cardiff Blue Alex Cuthbert, while for Scotland, Glasgow's Sean Lamont completes the matchday 23 in Scott's place.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Ireland head to France knowing their RBS 6 Nations hopes are hinged on whether they come away with a victory.
And the return of Leinster flanker Sean O'Brien is a huge boost to Joe Schmidt's men, as he forms a dream team with Leinster team mate Jamie Heaslip and Munster back-row - and last week's man of the match - CJ Stander.
Though Munstermen Simon Zebo and Keith Earls have failed to shake off injury problems, Ireland can call on more Leinster class in the form of Rob and Dave Kearney - slotting in at full-back and wing respectively.
Italy were firm underdogs heading into the Championship but they nearly came away with a historic win in France as Jacques Brunel's young team proved they are on the rise.
This week Brunel has plumped for 11 GUINNESS PRO12 starters, with Treviso full-back Luke McLean returning to the side to face England at the Stadio Olimpico.
Zebre fly-half Carlo Canna is the man of the moment for the Italians - his fluid performances in the GUINNESS PRO12 have translated onto the international stage, and it will be interesting to see if he can yet again rise to the occasion.
And with a further 27 GUINNESS PRO12 players on the bench across the four nations this weekend, expect impacts from familiar faces to be made in the second half.
After each game in the Six Nations championship, as long as a GUINNESS PRO12 player has scored a try, one fan will be selected at random from all of our Twitter competition entries using the hashtag #GUINNESSPRO12Hero and they will win a pair of tickets to the GUINNESS PRO12 Final (May 28, BT Murrayfield).
PLUS, if that's not enough, all of the winners of the competition will be entered into a ballot for the chance to have their tickets upgraded to hospitality and win a ball signed by the winning team in the GUINNESS PRO12 Final.
To buy tickets for the GUINNESS PRO12 Grand Final click here. Also follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12.
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