Ritchie in frame to be future captain

Scotland are building a leadership foundation for the future and we might get a glimpse of it tomorrow night against Georgia.

Fr a s e r Brown is captain for the first time in his 60 caps for Scotland, a tribute to the way he has come out of the lockdown period and is skippering Glasgow Warriors so far this season.

“He’s in the form of his life,” said Gregor Townsend yesterday, and the head coach is not wrong.

But it’s the vice-captain appointment that also intrigues, with Jamie Ritchie named in the post – ahead of at least four other players ahead of him in seniority in the starting XV.

Ritchie was maybe p r om o t e d t o international rugby ahead of time, the injury to John Barclay in 2018 the launching pad. By the time of the World Cup a year later, he was the most consistent player Scotland had, of any vintage or position.

He carried that on during the Six Nations, while promoted to the four- man leadership group. Leading out the team himself might not be too far a w a y, Townsend agreed.

“He’s still a young man (he turned 24 in August) and he’s developing as a l e a d e r ,” exp lained Townsend.

“Ob v iou s l y h e developed really fast as a player over the last couple of years.”

Stuart Hogg is the unquestioned skipper when available still, but given Jo n n y Gray ’s captaincy at Glasgow wasn’ t a success and both Brown and Stuart McInally have a shortish self- life now, it seems Ritchie is now ahead of Scott Cummings, who seemed to be the premier Future Scotland Captain among the younger members of the squad.

If his development as a player continues as it has over the last two years, the top job might not be too far away.