Why Gregor Townsend parted ways with Jamie Ritchie as skipper

Gregor Townsend has opted for a twin track on his Six Nations captaincy after announcing Rory Darge and Finn Russell as his chosen leaders for the 2024 campaign.

The Scotland head coach created some intrigue at last week’s squad announcement when he left the captaincy vacant, despite including his 2023 captain Jamie Ritchie in the squad. What was clear was that Townsend, and his forwards coach John Dalziel, were not convinced that Ritchie would start against Wales in next Saturday’s opening match if all their back row selections were fit and so could not make him skipper.

Darge did not feature in Glasgow’s big win over Toulon on Friday, as he completes recovery from the knee injury sustained in the 1872 Cup win over Edinburgh, and with Jack Dempsey’s return from injury, the good form of Matt Fagerson at Glasgow, Luke Crosbie at Edinburgh and Saracens’ Andy Christie, he is not assured of a start against Wales. But such is Scotland’s relative embarrassment of riches in the back row department, that he is ahead of the country’s recent captain in the pecking order.

Both Darge and Russell have captained Scotland before. Darge was a surprise when first handed the armband, in victory over Italy last summer, as he had just seven caps, but Ritchie was being left out of that World Cup warm-up. Russell was viewed as Townsend as a future captain when he first emerged in international rugby on Scotland’s summer tour of 2014, such was the player’s ability to understand a game and develop technical and tactical ideas. However, his ability to follow instructions and provide leadership off the park, amid well-documented issues with alcohol and ill-discipline, knocked that on the head when Townsend started casting the net.

That has changed over the past year with Russell becoming a father, and the stand-off admitting that that changed his focus from a selfish one to more aware of those around him, and their needs. Townsend named him skipper on the occasion of his 70th cap, against France in another World Cup warm-up for which Ritchie was unavailable.

Now, however, Townsend has opted for co-captains in Darge, who he views as a leader now but more importantly for the next decade, and Russell, who he knows is the one player that has global respect in this Scotland team and is genuinely feared. That level of respect is always a good trait in a team captain. Both are highly skilled and confident individuals, likeable too, and so have respect across the Scotland squad ranks. Darge, a product of state school North Berwick rugby, has a level of maturity beyond his 23 years, but the co-captain call also leaves the door open for Ritchie to respond and displace Darge, as they both have terrific Test-quality talent when on top form.

Townsend insisted that it was also about developing leadership more widely, knowing Ritchie is not the type to throw his toys out of the pram, and will instead provide the same leadership qualities in the squad whether starting or not.

“Appointing co-captains for this year’s Guinness Six Nations allows us to further grow and develop the leadership within the squad,” said Townsend. “Rory and Finn captained Scotland last summer and bring different strengths and styles of leadership to the table. Both are highly respected within our squad and have been part of our leadership group for some time. I’m sure they will thrive with this responsibility and lean on our other leaders to drive certain aspects of our preparation, mindset and performance.”

He was quick to praise Ritchie, but alluded to the need for him to get back to his best form.

“Jamie has done an excellent job as our captain since October 2022 and he will continue to be one of the key leaders in our group. He now has the opportunity to focus more on his game and deliver his best rugby over the next few weeks.”

Darge was surprised to be asked to captain the team last summer, but did it well and now seems much more ready for the role.

“I enjoyed captaining the team last summer and immediately felt proud when Gregor told me the news. To co-captain your country is a tremendous honour and to do it alongside a guy like Finn who is respected across the game and such a talented player will be great for me.

“Everyone in our leadership group plays a vital role and we all have strengths that will take the team forward. This year’s Guinness Six Nations represents a chance for us to continue to progress as a group and everyone is looking forward to that first game against Wales”

That collectiveness, and cohesion, is what Townsend has been searching for. Someone as experienced as he in Scotland’s history, and first-hand knowledge of Scottish close things, burst bubbles and failure to follow through on promise, believes firmly that Scotland’s only chance of winning a Six Nations, and that remains his goal – finishing second or third is not among the targets – comes not from individual talent but from maximising the group impact. He will talk about watching Scotland’s 1984 and 1990 Grand Slams, speaking to the players and coaches involved in those, and was involved in the narrow miss of 1996 and triumph in 1999. For that reason, Russell’s agreement to help deliver the message that a championship cannot be won on the fly-half’s flair alone, was key to this appointment.

“We have such a talented squad and to lead them alongside Rory represents a massive opportunity,” said Russell on being handed the honour.

“Rory has been a key player for us since he made his debut and leads by example during matches and in training. We’ll both have different leadership styles which will complement each other and ultimately benefit the team as we go into the tournament.”