Edinburgh armband for Ritchie
HAD fate not conspired against him, Jamie Ritchie would already be a fully fledged Scotland captain. The 25-year-old Edinburgh flanker was set to lead the nation on the summer tour to Romania and Georgia earlier this year, only for Covid to cancel the whole thing. But it clearly wasn’t just a token gesture to hand him the honour after he narrowly missed out on selection for the Lions. Edinburgh head coach Mike Blair has chosen Ritchie to lead the team in today’s United Rugby Championship clash with Zebre Parma in Italy. Stuart McInally is the official club co-captain along with Grant Gilchrist — and McInally is included in this afternoon’s starting XV. But, intriguingly, Ritchie has been handed the captaincy ahead of him — and Blair believes it offers a glimpse of the future. ‘I see Jamie as a permanent captain of the future,’ said Blair. ‘It’s about giving him opportunities to develop as a captain. Stuart plays this second-in-command role really well and is going to help Jamie in doing his role. But it’s also important for us to continually develop our leadership group. ‘We have to nurture them and make sure that they are making really good decisions on the pitch.’ Blair has named a fairly strong side for the trip to Italy, where they will be looking to build on last weekend’s win over the Bulls.
Charlie Shiel will partner Blair Kinghorn in a youthful half-back pairing, while Bill Mata provides some back-row beef in a pack which also includes Scotland squad members Ritchie, McInally, Pierre Schoeman, Luke Crosbie and Jamie Hodgson. Wary of the fact that Glasgow Warriors laboured to victory against Zebre last weekend, Blair warned: ‘It was a tight game, wasn’t it? It ended up a bit of an arm wrestle. Zebre at their home are really tricky opposition to play. ‘We’ve talked about playing our own game and about what’s been successful over the first few games in terms of the tempo we’ve been able to play in attack but also being strategically switched on.’ KICK-OFF: 1pm Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma.
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