Star Metro - Ritchie won't take Scotland captaincy for granted

Ritchie took over as skipper in October and has led Scotland to two wins from four matches, with victories over Argentina and Fiji offset by defeats against New Zealand and Australia.

But this weekend's match at Twickenham is the first time the 26-year-old has captained Scotland in an away fixture, a privileged position he never dreamed he would reach.

"It means an awful lot," Ritchie told reporters on Friday. "It's a huge privilege, one I don't take lightly.

"It's a funny one because when you're a kid you don't dream about captaining Scotland, you dream about being able to play for Scotland. I've been lucky enough to be able to do that.

"It is probably one of the things that develops throughout your career when you end up in leadership roles in teams and it becomes something you maybe aspire to."

Victory this weekend would give Scotland a third successive win over old rivals England -- something they last achieved under the captaincy of Peter Brown back in 1972.

Scotland edged England 20-17 at Murrayfield in 2022, with Ritchie saying: "In the game last year we played really well and defended really well.

"In the game the year before (an 11-6 success at Twickenham) we were really comfortable and we negated what they (England) were looking to do.

"We're confident we can have a strong performance tomorrow as well."

A.Desjardins--SMC