Rory Darge: Six Nations captain message from Jamie Ritchie, leaning on senior pros and leading by example

New Scotland co-skipper opens up after being given armband alongside Russell

The captaincy baton is passing across Scotland’s back row from Jamie Ritchie to Rory Darge and it is a mark of the former that he was quick to message the new skipper to pass on his good wishes.

The sentiment meant a lot to Darge who was named on Sunday, alongside Finn Russell, as co-captain for the forthcoming Guinness Six Nations. At 23 and with 15 caps, Darge may seem like something of a greenhorn but the Glasgow Warriors wing forward has embraced leadership from an early age, dating back to his schooldays in East Lothian. He captained the North Berwick HS team, then Scotland at under-18 and under-20 level and also had a stint as skipper of the Southern Knights. He says he will lean not only on Russell in the coming weeks but also other senior members of the squad, including Ritchie.

“It’s different in terms of it not being one man,” said Darge. “That’s not just with it now being co-captains – the whole time I’ve been involved with Scotland, it’s never been one man. That’s something Jamie was really good at – delegation and bringing other people up to be leaders. He’s someone I’m going to lean on a lot.

Scotland's new co-captains Rory Darge, left, and Finn Russell during a training session at Oriam in Edinburgh, on January 23, 2024. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

“I got a nice message from him when the announcement was made. I was never worried it was going to be awkward. I’ve known Jamie for a long time and he’s a great guy, a real professional who cares about Scotland and performing well for Scotland. That’s his whole thing, so I didn’t think for a second it would be awkward. There are so many other guys too. When I first came to Edinburgh, Gilco [Grant Gilchrist] and Rambo [Stuart McInally] were guys I looked up to, and obviously Gilco is involved in this squad. Then there’s obviously Finn, and Kyle [Steyn] and Sione [Tuipulotu] are both leaders at Glasgow, having both skippered the side. I’m not short of leaders in the squad who can help out.”

In explaining his captaincy decision, Gregor Townsend said he expected Darge to lead “by example”. The flanker has been Scotland skipper once before – for the summer Test against Italy last July – and he is in agreement with the national coach. “I’m hoping it’s not going to change too much,” said Darge. “I’ve been involved with the leadership group for a couple of years and it’s always been pretty good in terms of there being a lot of shared responsibility. Doing it with a guy like Finn, that in itself means there is shared responsibility. I’ve got lots of guys I can lean on. I definitely think what I can do best is lead by example. What I’ve learned from my limited captaincy experience is that the biggest challenge, the most important thing, is that you perform well and that your training standards are as good as you say you want them to be.

“That’s what I will be focusing on first and foremost, and the rest will hopefully come naturally. It’s not something I am going to spend too much time thinking about. If the moment comes, I’ll try to deliver. When I was at school, I captained the school team a couple of times. I captained the Southern Knights and in age-grade stuff. Growing up, I had a lot of stuff where I was skipper. I had a season of 18s and a season of 20s doing it and I don’t really see it as a burden. You can look at it as a pressure but you can also look at it as an opportunity, and make sure you’re grateful for it. That eases a lot of it.”

Scotland’s 2024 Six Nations programme begins a week on Saturday with a match against Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. It’s where Darge made his Test debut two years ago, coming off the bench in a game the home side won 20-17 with a late drop goal from Dan Biggar. “I remember the nerves in the build-up, but the main memory I have is getting on the pitch and not being able to hear anything,” said Darge. “It was the loudest stadium I had experienced up to that point, by far. At that stage of the game, it was quite close and cagey, so you were trying to hear lineout calls and they were totally drowned out by the noise of the crowd. It’s a pretty cool atmosphere down there, and my family being there was massive for me. They got to come to the hotel afterwards – it was some moment.”

Jamie Ritchie, left, and Rory Darge together during the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. Darge received a message from Ritchie after being appointed Scotland co-captain. (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

The concern this week is that Darge may not be fit for Cardiff. He strained the medial collateral ligament in his knee in Glasgow’s defeat by Edinburgh on December 30 and Townsend said that Darge may have to wait until round two and the home game against France. Having missed the entire Six Nations Championship last season after suffering an ankle injury on club duty, the fear was that the player could be sidelined again this year but the injury in the 1872 Cup match was not as serious as first thought.

“I’ve done my MCL before, but that was a complete tear and it’s not a complete tear this time,” explained Darge. “But you never know. There’s a bit of time before the scan, and you’re sat there thinking ‘what could this be?’ If I had to put money on it, I would have said it was probably an MCL and probably not as bad as I’d done it before, but you always have the what-ifs in the back of your head. To get the scan back as it was – obviously I’m not glad to be injured, but I’m glad it’s not as bad as what some people feared.”