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Townsend: 'The real reason' Jamie Ritchie was shelved as captain
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has said that Jamie Ritchie will have to battle his way into the team on merit after being stripped of the captaincy ahead of the Six Nations.
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Townsend confirmed Finn Russell and Rory Darge as co-captains shortly after naming his 39-man Guinness Six Nations squad, relieving Ritchie of the captaincy duties he first took up in 2022.
“It’s really down to the amount of competition we have in the back row. Players who have played in the World Cup have really put their hand up for selection,” said Townsend.
“The focus for Jamie right now is to be the best player Jamie can be. If he []Ritchie] can get into the team on his merits he can be one of our best players, we know that. He is competing with some guys that are in really good form right now, at openside or blindside. So that was the real reason. Jamie will still be a leader for us.
“The way he led, he brought the leadership out of others in the team. That’s how we see Rory and Finn as well.”
Townsend backed his two captains to kick on as joint skippers. “The two players Rory and Finn, are leaders in different ways that we think really highly of. It’s a good way to develop our leadership.
“They complement each other well. Finn has played lots of test matches and he’ll be able to lead with that. Rory is a big leader of our physicality on defence.”
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Some referees have been reluctant to communicate with more than one matchday captain during gameplay, but it’s not something that Townsend is overly worried about.
“You’ll have to wait and see,” replied Townsend when asked by RugbyPass who the designated match day captain would be if both players are selected. “We’ve had co-captains in the past. We did have game a couple of years ago with two captains. We had to say before the game, who [the referee] do you want to chat with, is it okay if two people chat to you. It might be something different. The ref may want to talk to Rory or Finn.
“There will be someone to do the coin toss and give the last message to the referee, and we’ll see how that develops over the championship.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
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