Rory Darge was a surprise choice to captain Scotland in Saturday’s home game against Italy, and on Friday the Glasgow openside admitted he had been blindsided by the decision of Gregor Townsend, the head coach, to give him the honour.
Jamie Ritchie remains the team’s captain for the Rugby World Cup, so the appointment of Darge, 23, for this first of four warm-up matches has probably been made with an eye to the longer term. However, given that Ritchie is among the senior players who are absent on Saturday afternoon, a less experienced leader was always likely for the national team’s first outing since the retirement of former captain Stuart Hogg.
