Jamie Ritchie: ‘Captaincy is not something that defines who I am’

​The Dundee-born 27-year-old was replaced as skipper ahead of this year’s Six Nations by co-captains Finn Russell and Rory Darge, the reason given for that switch by head coach Gregor Townsend being that his starting place could no longer be guaranteed due to increased competition for back-row jerseys.

Townsend, 50, then proceeded to select Ritchie for the Scots’ 27-26 opening win away to Wales on Saturday, February 3, even naming him as vice-captain, and for their 30-21 Calcutta Cup victory at home to England at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium on Saturday gone, though he didn’t even make the replacements’ bench for their 20-16 home loss to France in between on Saturday, February 10.

Ritchie, at United Rugby Championship side Edinburgh since 2014, says he bears no ill will towards Townsend for withdrawing the captain’s armband he’d been in possession of for just over a year, accepting it is as a decision out of his hands.

“I’m a firm believer in worrying about things you can control yourself, and for me Gregor makes the decisions that he thinks are best for the team and I fully support him in that,” he said.

“For me, things around captaincy and selection don’t change who I am.

“Rugby is a subjective beast, and if I can be happy with how I am in myself, then hopefully things like selection will eventually take care of themselves.

“Captaincy is something I really enjoy and I relish any opportunity I get to do it, but it's not something that defines who I am.

“It doesn’t change how I am around whatever squad that might be.

“I still like to think I bring a reasonable amount of leadership and experience, and these are things that don’t change with or without the armband.”

Ritchie, capped 48 times since making his international debut in June 2018, says he accepts Townsend’s reasons for switching skippers and going with Bath fly-half Russell, 31, and Glasgow Warriors flanker Darge, 24, instead of him, explaining: “He just said ‘look, there’s obviously a lot of competition in the back row, and we’re not sure if you’re definitely going to be involved in every game’.

“That’s something Gregor is quite keen on when you’re going to be captain, which I understand. That was basically the conversation.

“I think giving Finn and Dargy the armband is a great opportunity for Dargy to get some experience as captain, and also we know that Finn leads the team in the way he plays. It’s awesome, and I’ll support them as best I can.

“I was vice-captain against Wales, so I feel like I still contribute in terms of leadership within the group, and obviously I have a little bit of experience from having captained the side for the last 18 months, so I’ll help Dargy and Finn as and where they need me.

“That is something I did before I was captain and something I’ve continued to try to do afterwards.”

Ritchie was named as sole skipper ahead of 2022’s autumn test series, having co-captained the national team, along with Ali Price, for their 60-14 home win against Tonga in November 2021, and kept hold of that armband for last year’s Six Nations and Rugby World Cup in France.

Ritchie, a product of St Andrews’ Madras club, sustained a shoulder injury during Scotland’s last world cup match ahead of their pool-stage exit, a 36-14 loss to Ireland in Paris at the start of October, and that sidelined him for the first few games of Edinburgh’s 2023/24 season, only returning to action in November, and he reckons that absence is to blame for no longer being gauranteed a starting-XV place.

“I felt like when I came back from my injury, playing for Edinburgh, I played really well the first few games,” he said.

“I ended up with a week off, then played well again, and then there were the Glasgow games, and because of the nature of them, we ended up being quite quiet anyway, so I think that’s what Gregor was looking at.

“I didn’t feel like I was playing badly – I feel like I’ve played well for a number of years and that stood me in good stead in terms of selection – but it’s a credit to the other guys who play a similar position that they’ve raised their level and that all right for me isn’t good enough.

“I will strive to be as good as I can be, and I feel like I have been doing that. I feel like I have played reasonably well when given opportunities to play this year.”

Ritchie was delighted to get the nod to help Scotland retain the Calcutta Cup for the fourth year on the bounce, having played in the three preceding victories – by 11-6 in London in 2021, 20-17 at Murrayfield in 2022 and 29-23 away last year – and he’s hoping to be selected for rounds four and five of the championship too, away to Italy on Saturday, March 9, and in Ireland the Saturday after.

“It is just trying to contribute the best I can to the team’s performance, whether that be through individual moments or executing my role,” he said.

“It is really important to me and always has been whenever I’ve played in any team.

“It was a really special one on Saturday, so we enjoyed that, but I think there’s lots more in us.

“We definitely weren’t at our best and there is definitely more in us.”

Scotland go into that two-game run-in to the end of the championship sitting second to the Irish in the standings, with nine points from three fixtures, six points off top spot and six better off than the bottom-of-the-table Italians.