GROUNDHOG DAY
Darge the latest in a long line of quality Scottish No7s
SCOTLAND have a long, proud history of producing teak-tough flankers. No frills players who relish the physical stuff and pride themselves on unsettling the opposition.
You can trace a line from the amateur era right up to the modern day and see this trend. From Finlay Calder and John Jeffrey to Budge Pountney, Jason White and John Barclay. Hamish Watson, too.
And many believe that Rory Darge has the capacity to be better than all of those hardy characters mentioned above.
The Glasgow openside flanker is not the biggest backrow forward by global standards but Darge packs a serious punch. The North Berwick native is set to win his 20th cap against Ireland tomorrow evening, but he is already a firm fixture in this Scottish pack.
Tellingly, he is now sharing captaincy duties with Finn Russell. In terms of personality, the 24-year-old is a polar opposite to the extroverted Scotland No10.
Quiet and soft spoken by nature, Darge does his talking on the pitch. Suffice to say, he becomes a different prospect when he crosses the white line on a rugby field. And teammates inevitably follow.
Gregor Townsend certainly felt that Darge had leadership qualities from the moment he first set foot in the Scotland camp back two years ago. ‘Rory was world-class when he came into the Scotland team in the 2022 Six Nations,’ the Scotland boss noted at the time. ‘We see a leader there. A leader by example in the way he plays, but also a leader who can grow in the role of captain, vice-captain or part of a leadership group.’
Darge has become a central figure in Scotland’s backrow, edging out Jamie Ritchie and Watson at openside.
The irony is that he decided to leave Edinburgh a few years ago because those same players were blocking his progress.
Standing at 6ft 1in and weighing 98kg, Darge often felt that he was ‘too small’ for the top level.
But Danny Wilson, then head coach of Glasgow Warriows, saw something in this nuggety flanker with a relentless workrate.
The club were down a lot of injured backrow forwards so Darge decided to make the switch from Edinburgh.
It has proven a shrewd move. He has become a fan favourite at Scotstoun and a thorn in the side of every visiting team.
For his fellow Glasgow backrower Jack Dempsey, who came through the Australian system, this new kid on the block reminded him of a Wallabies great.
‘For a guy like me, before I came up here, I played pretty much almost every game next to Michael Hooper and that’s the first thing that stands out — in terms of when you’ve got a seven like that who can just run all day — for 85 or 90 minutes if need be.”
‘For me as a ball-running backrower, to play next to a guy like that who you know is going to just keep rocking up with the same energy for every minute of that game is huge.
‘I love a back-rower who has got some footwork, some evasive skills and an offload — I’m looking forward to building more chemistry with him.’
Fast forward to this weekend Dempsey and Darge are starting alongside each other in the Scotland backrow.
It’s been quite the rise for Darge. He made his international debut for Scotland within a year of his move to Glasgow, coming off the bench in a 2022 Six Nations clash with Wales. Seven days later, he was named to start against the French at Murrayfield.
It was a rough afternoon for the Scots in Edinburgh. Darge, however, announced himself on the world stage with a stunning display in a losing cause. No one carried or tackled more than Darge on the day. It was his sheer physicality which really stood out, however. The young flanker didn’t take a backwards step against an imposing French backrow featuring Gregory Alldritt. He has not looked back. For many, his rise came as no surprise. His Glasgow teammate Fraser Brown was immediately blown away by a raw, young flanker who rocked up to a training camp in 2020. ‘Within a couple of training sessions you could see just what an unbelievable talent he is,’ the Scotland hooker told the BBC Rugby Podcast last year. ‘Darge came in and trained with Scotland, he was in the Edinburgh academy at the time. I remember having a conversation with (Scotland defence coach) Steve Tandy and he said, “this kid is going to be unreal”.
‘He is going to be an absolute superstar. Even when he doesn’t have one of those games where he’s the best player on the pitch, he’s still sitting at an eight out of 10.
‘The work he does, the threat he is at the breakdown, his carrying — I’ve never seen a forward able to step backwards and yet still make gains. He just manages to beat the first defender every time he carries.’
Darge would probably wince at such praise. He doesn’t court publicity. He doesn’t do social media and he will never stir the pot in press conferences. He is absolutely box office on the pitch, mind you.
Like the rest of his teammates, Darge won’t be satisfied with his performance in Rome. He will be keen to set the record straight in Dublin.
Ireland are primed for a backlash but the Scots feel they owe their rivals one after what transpired in a one-side World Cup pool meeting last year.
And with an in-your-face flanker like Darge on board, the visitors will quietly fancy their chances of derailing Ireland’s title party in the capital.
“He is a fan favourite at Scotstoun”