Rory Darge taken by surprise by captaincy for Scotland v Italy as he pays tribute to early mentor

The honour in being chosen to captain Scotland in Saturday’s match against Italy was matched only by the surprise for Rory Darge, who admitted he was taken aback when Gregor Townsend told him the news.

“I wasn’t expecting it,” said the Glasgow Warriors flanker. “I’ve only got seven caps at this level so I didn’t really see it coming but I’m delighted that Gregor has picked me as a captain and sees me as a leader. I’ll just do my best on Saturday.”

Darge, 23, would have had a lot more caps if it hadn’t been for injury. The East Lothian man adapted quickly to Test rugby after making his debut as a replacement in the 2022 Six Nations match against Wales, prompting Townsend to this week describe his performances in last year’s Championship as “world class”. He went on to play in all three Test matches on the summer tour of Argentina but saw his progress stymied by a serious ankle injury, sustained against Cardiff last September, which caused him to miss the Autumn Nations Series and this year’s Six Nations. He has not played for Scotland since the final Test in Santiago del Estero over a year ago but returns to lead his country in this opening World Cup warm-up match at Murrayfield.

“It’s a bit of a weird feeling,” said Darge. “I’m honoured, obviously. It was pretty special when Gregor told me. It was on the Friday morning last week, not long before he announced the team. I’m glad he did it on the Friday. It didn’t frazzle my head, but I was just glad that I had time to digest it and tell my folks, take time to think about what is expected of me throughout the week. And to have those conversations with guys who are more experienced in the role. I know it doesn’t seem like long, but it’s just been a bit more time to dwell on it and think about what I’m going to do.”

His family will be at Murrayfield to cheer him on with the notable exception of younger brother Arron, who has a prior engagement. The former Hearts defender joined Cove Rangers in the summer and is likely to be involved in their League Cup match at Hamilton.

Another absentee, for altogether sadder reasons, is Keith Hogg, an early mentor for Darge when he started out in rugby with North Berwick minis. Hogg died last month after a long illness and Darge took time to pay tribute to the work he did with him and scores of others at the East Lothian club. “He was a really good community man,” said Darge. “He just made it enjoyable for myself and everyone my age who came to rugby. I loved it and he was a big part of why. A lot of mini coaches sometimes dwell on winning and performance: he just focused on enjoyment, which I think at that level is absolutely the right thing to do. He was a big part of the community.” His widow Victoria and eldest son Matt have both been in touch with Darge to wish him well for Saturday.

Townsend has mixed things up for the Italy match, the first of four games Scotland will play in preparation for their World Cup opener against the holders, South Africa, in Marseille on September 10. There is an experimental feel to the side, with a slew of big names missing. In the back row alone, there is no place in the 23 for regular skipper Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson or Jack Dempsey. All three will presumably be involved next week against France but in the meantime Darge will have Luke Crosbie and Matt Fagerson alongside him, underlining Scotland’s strength in that particular area. With the World Cup training squad to be cut from 41 to 33 for the tournament itself competition for places will be fierce but Darge isn’t losing sight of the job in hand.

“At the end of the day we’re not playing against each other, we’re playing against Italy,” he said. “Yeah, it’s going to be pretty brutal, because you look at the whole squad and you’re thinking ‘Everyone deserves to go and they’ve all worked hard’. But there’s almost too much in a Test match to be thinking about that: that’s not really at the front of your mind. What’s at the front of your mind is ‘What do I need to do in this moment to perform?’ I’m sure that’s what the boys’ focus will be on.”

Rory Darge, who will captain Scotland against Italy, during a training session at Scottish Gas Murrayfield ahead of the match. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

He said Ritchie had been generous with advice this week and he will also lean on the senior players in the squad before and during the match. “Jamie has been really supportive,” said Darge who has experience of captaining Scotland at under-20 level. “I’d like to think I’ll lead by example. I’ll say my bit here and there but I’m lucky to have Chris Harris and Sam Skinner as vice captains and they can lead a lot of the huddles. And even outside of them there’s Kyle Steyn and Ali Price, so many leaders in the squad, and I feel like the burden has been taken off me a little bit.”

Steyn is his captain at Glasgow and Darge admitted it was a slightly unusual situation. “A little bit, but he’s been really supportive. He said a few nice words to me through the week and I just feel backed by the guys. It’s a bit weird because he’s normally my captain but I’m just looking forward to going out there with him.”

He expects an open, attacking game against Italy who have picked an experimental side. “I’ve watched a bit of footage and they definitely like to throw it about which will bring challenges, and opportunities, obviously. We’ve had a decent look at Italy but a lot of the focus has been on us. It’s the start of a campaign.”

Scotland v Italy: Murrayfield, Saturday, 3.15pm. TV: live on Amazon Prime Video

The Scotland players enter the field at Murrayfield to train ahead of the Summer Series match against Italy. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Scotland: O Smith; D Graham, C Harris, S McDowall, K Steyn; B Healy, A Price; R Sutherland, G Turner, M Walker, S Skinner, S Cummings, L Crosbie, R Darge (c), M Fagerson. Replacements: S McInally, J Bhatti, J Sebastian, C Henderson, J Bayliss, J Dobie, B Kinghorn, C Redpath.

Italy: L Pani; P Bruno, T Menoncello, L Morisi, M Ioane; T Allan, M Page-Relo; F Zani, E Faiva, P Ceccarelli, D Sisi, A Zambonin, F Ruzza (c), M Zuliani, T Halafihi. Replacements: M Manfredi, D Fischetti, F Alongi, E Iachizzi, L Cannone, A Garbisi, G Da Re, F Mori.