Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Ritchie: 'My family are a big rugby family. For me, it's a massive honour'

By PA
Scotland's Jamie Ritchie

Jamie Ritchie is delighted to finally get the chance to captain Scotland after his hopes of leading his country in the summer were dashed by Covid.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 25-year-old Edinburgh flanker was initially due to skipper the national team in Tests against Georgia and Romania in July, but those matches were scrapped due to the impact of the pandemic.

Ritchie will have the honour belatedly, however, after he and Glasgow’s Ali Price were named co-captains for Saturday’s Test against Tonga at Murrayfield.

Video Spacer

Dan Biggar | All Access | Why the Autumn Series is the most brutal in rugby

Video Spacer

Dan Biggar | All Access | Why the Autumn Series is the most brutal in rugby

He said: “It was a huge honour to be asked to be captain in the summer, regardless of whether or not we had a game, and I’m just delighted that Ali and I get to share that honour this week.

“It was obviously pretty disappointing that we didn’t get a game in the summer but, for me, it was more disappointing for the guys who missed out on some opportunities to play.

“It was obviously a pretty changed group and there were some guys in it who may not get another chance, so it’s a shame for them. It’s great to see a lot of the new guys who were involved in the summer staying involved for this autumn series.

“Ali and I have been vice-captains for a wee while now, so we’re used to how each other works and we share the loads in terms of training and messaging and stuff. It’s been pretty seamless.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Pride will be the overriding emotion for Ritchie and his family this weekend.

He said: “My family are a big rugby family. For me, it’s a massive honour to captain Scotland. I got to do it through the age grades as well, which was amazing.

“There’s something super-special about it. It’s hard to describe because you don’t dream about captaining your country. You dream about playing for your country. But for me now, it’s awesome.”

Saturday’s match is Scotland’s first in seven months since they defeated France in Paris at the end of a Guinness Six Nations campaign which also featured a Calcutta Cup win over England at Twickenham.

Ritchie is enthused by the prospect of trying to build on those results from earlier in the year as Scotland prepare to play in front of supporters for the first time in 19 months.

ADVERTISEMENT
Scotland Ritchie
(Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Ritchie said: “I’m pretty excited about the fact we had those results behind closed doors and also knowing how much energy we get from the crowd, especially at Murrayfield.

“I’m really excited to play in front of the fans again. It’s all about trying to move forward on the back of our results from the past year or so. The challenge going forward is to get better.”

Ritchie hopes Scotland can pay a fitting tribute to Scotland great Sandy Carmichael, who died this week aged 77.

He said: “Gregor spoke about it in our meeting this morning. He was the first Scottish player to reach 50 caps, so he’s an inspiration for all Scottish players. There will be a minute’s silence before the game and he’ll be in our thoughts.”

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

S
SK 23 minutes ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

The way they are defending is sometime pathetic to be honest. Itoje is usually on the inside of the rush and he is paired with a slower tight forward. Unable to keep up with the rush we have seen the line become disconnected on the inside where the big boys are. How many times have we seen Earl rush past the first receiver almost into no mans land covering no attacker. It looks like a system without any guidance. Tome Wright, Ikitau and a number of Wallabies went back to this soft centre as did Williams, Jordan and several others. Also when the line is broken the multiple lines of defence seems to be missing. The rush is predicated on a cover and recovery system with multiple lines of defence but with England you dont see it any more. Fitness and conditioning seems to be off as well as players are struggling to keep up with the intensity of the rush. Felix Jones has left a huge hole. The whole situation was and is a mess. Why they insist on not letting him go and having him work remotely is beyond me. Its leading to massive negative press and is a hot button issue thats distracting from the squad. Also the communication around Jones and his role has been absolute rubbish and is totally disjointed. While some say he is working remotely and playing a role others are saying theres been no contact. His role has not been defined and so people keep asking and keep getting different answers. England need a clean break from him and need to start over. Whatever reason for his leaving its time to cut the rope before the saga drags the whole Borthwick regime down. As for Joe El Abd well good luck to him. He is being made to look like an amateur by the whole saga and he is being asked to coach a system thats not his and which has been perfected and honed since 2017 by Nienaber, Jones, Erasmus and Co and which was first started by White in 2004. He is literally trying to figure out a system pioneered by double world cup winning coaches at the highest level and coach it at the same time. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.

24 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Jake White: Ireland, Australia and Wales all have the same problem Jake White: Ireland, Australia and Wales have the same problem
Search