Jamie Ritchie has declared himself fit and ready to lead Scotland into the Rugby World Cup after shaking off his recent calf issue.
The captain sat out the previous two warm-up matches at home to Italy and France as a precaution after what he described as “a little niggle” but he returns to the starting XV for this Saturday night’s rematch with Les Bleus in the heat of Saint-Etienne.
Ritchie is raring to go ahead of his first outing since playing for Edinburgh in a United Rugby Championship match away to Ulster almost four months ago.
“I feel like I’ve had a good pre-season and I’m feeling good, really excited to get back playing,” he said at the captain’s run press conference at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Friday.
“I’ve been sad to miss out the last couple of weeks because I was looking forward to getting a run out at Murrayfield but I have had to wait until this week so I’m really excited to get going.”
Ritchie insists there was never any fear that the injury would cause him any major problems ahead of the World Cup, which gets under way in France in four weeks’ time.
“No, not really,” he said when asked if he was worried about being fit in time. “It was just a little niggle I picked up in the week of the Italy match.
“It was probably touch and go for the home game against France, we were just erring on the side of caution. I was always going to be good to go for this week.”
Head coach Gregor Townsend said on Thursday that Ritchie is “probably in the best shape I’ve seen him in the last few years”.
“That’s kind of him,” smiled the captain when asked if he agreed with Townsend. “I need to ask my wife! Yeah, I feel good. It’s been good to have an extended pre-season.
“I got more or less a full pre-season in last year post-injury but the start of that was probably inhibited by the fact I’d been out for eight months (with a serious hamstring injury sustained against England in February 2022) so this is the first full pre-season I’ve had off the back of a full season of playing.
“I’m feeling in good shape and looking forward to getting going.”
Scotland spent the early part of this week at their World Cup training base near Nice before flying up to Saint-Etienne, where they found temperatures in the high 20s as they went through their team run on Friday.
Although Saturday’s match kicks off at 9pm, balmy conditions are expected. Ritchie feels the heat his team have been exposed to this week – and on their previous trip to the south of France in June – will stand them in good stead for the demands of the tournament itself.
“Massively, it means we’re adapted to what it’s going to be like out here, particularly on the training side of things (when they’ll be in the south of France).
“We’re playing in different parts of the country and the game tomorrow is in the evening so it might not be in the direct sunlight. Hopefully we’ll be a bit more acclimatised to the heat but not feeling that direct sunlight.
“We’re in a great place, our training sessions have been consistent, they’ve started well and they’ve finished well. There’s not been a session where we’ve dropped off, even in the heat, which is testament to the guys’ fitness and how hard we’ve worked.”
Ritchie feels Scotland’s fitness was highlighted by their stirring second-half fightback against the French last weekend when they scored 22 unanswered points to win 25-21 after trailing 21-3 at the break.
The 26-year-old flanker is hoping they can build on that performance and pull off another victory even though Les Bleus have selected arguably their strongest XV for this weekend after fielding a predominantly second-string team in Edinburgh.
“We take loads of confidence from last week in that we didn’t necessarily start that well but we fought to come back and have a really great finish,” said Ritchie.
“Our fitness showed in that game, we really started to peak towards the end and played some of our best stuff.
“We also felt we were the better team in the Six Nations (when losing 32-21 in Paris in February) and we’ll be looking to show it tomorrow.”
England and Saracens number eight Vunipola fined after arrest in Mallorca
England international Billy Vunipola has confirmed he has been fined after an incident which saw him arrested in Mallorca on Sunday, with his club Saracens set to launch an internal investigation.
On Monday, widespread reports claimed Vunipola had been tasered by Spanish police in the early hours of Sunday morning, with an altercation taking place after he left a club in Palma.
Saracens later confirmed they were aware of an incident and said they would deal with it internally.
The number eight, who was born in Australia but has represented England 75 times, later released a statement of his own via his club, denying that any violence took place and confirming the police investigation was now closed.
"I can confirm I was involved in an unfortunate misunderstanding when I was leaving a club in Mallorca on Sunday, which got out of hand," that statement read.
"Contrary to media reports, there was no violence, no fight and I did not threaten anybody at any stage, with bottles or chairs or anything else.
"I was charged with resisting the law and, following an 'express trial', I have paid a fine of €240. The Spanish police investigation is now closed, and I am flying back to the UK today.
"I will obviously cooperate with the Saracens internal process and unreservedly apologise for any inconvenience to all involved."
Fraser Brown ‘hugely proud’ of Scotland career as he announces rugby retirement
Fraser Brown declared himself “hugely proud” of his Scotland career as he announced his retirement from professional rugby.
The 34-year-old Glasgow hooker has not played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament while playing for the World XV against the Barbarians at Twickenham last May and he has now conceded defeat in his bid to return to action.
Brown won 61 Scotland caps, with the first of them coming against Italy in 2013 and the last in the Six Nations match at home to Ireland in 2023, the same game incidentally in which Stuart Hogg won his final cap. The front-rower went to both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
“When you have a serious injury like I did with an ACL at the end of your career, it is always going to be hard to come back from,” Brown told Scottish Rugby.
“That probably made it a little easier to announce my retirement but it’s still a surreal and strange feeling.
“I’m hugely proud to have played so many times for Scotland during my career. To get one cap was great, but then my second one came against the All Blacks at Murrayfield which was such a special occasion.
“To reach 50 caps was a big moment as I had to deal with a lot of injuries throughout my career and to be part of the growth process of the team which has resulted in where they are now has been cool.”
At club level, Brown made 141 appearances for Glasgow after joining from Edinburgh in 2011.
The hooker helped them win the Guinness Pro12 in 2015 with victory over Munster in the final in Belfast, while his last appearance for Warriors proved to be last season’s Challenge Cup final defeat by Toulon in Dublin.
Glasgow head coach Franco Smith paid tribute to Brown, saying: “Fraser is the epitome of a modern professional and someone who should serve as a role model to any young player starting their journey.
“The respect with which he is held, not only within the Glasgow Warriors community but within the wider rugby family, should serve to underline the achievements he has earned throughout his career and the manner in which he has achieved them.
“His work ethic and determination to bring the best out of the people and players around him has been clear to all throughout his career.
“I wish him the very best for whatever comes next and I know he will apply that same work ethic and determination that made him one of this club’s most distinguished Warriors.”
Brown becomes the second experienced Scotland front-rower to announce his retirement in the space of a month after Edinburgh prop WP Nel recently revealed he would be hanging his boots up at the end of this season.
England tap into knowledge of Brian Ashton to play entertaining brand of rugby
England have been tapping into the knowledge of veteran attack guru Brian Ashton to achieve their aim of filling Twickenham.
The Red Roses ran in 14 tries in an 88-10 victory over Ireland that places them on the brink of claiming a sixth consecutive Guinness Women’s Six Nations title when they face France on Saturday.
A thrilling attacking performance before a 48,778 crowd was born out of the belief that in order to play in front of a full house of Twickenham at next year’s home World Cup, they must play appealing rugby.
And helping them achieve that aim is Ashton, a former England men’s head coach regarded as a visionary in the game whose expertise has been enlisted by Red Roses boss John Mitchell.
“Brian makes us ask questions. ‘If this is the picture, what is the easiest way that you can take the wins?’” said Dow, who ran in a hat-trick against Ireland.
“I do think it is about asking those questions and having Brian Ashton available throughout the week…I absolutely adore the man.
“The way he phrases things almost makes you re-think the philosophy of rugby. I think in the English brand the philosophy is ‘let’s kick to the corner, let’s take the territory’. But is that the philosophy of all rugby? Can we expand that?
“At the end of the day, professional rugby is a business in its own way. We need to be proving to the whole of England that we can play an exciting brand of rugby.”
While England march on by overwhelming the opposition in front of them, Ireland’s blowout highlights the gulf in class in the women’s game and affects the credibility of the Six Nations.
The Red Roses have accumulated 228 points after four rounds and France are the only European team capable of taking the wind out of their sails when the rivals clash in Bordeaux.
“I 100 per cent think teams will catch up and as much as we may be on top now, it is on us to try and work to keep that place and demand more from ourselves,” Dow said.
“Because as much as we’d love the game to grow, we want to keep the gap ourselves and continue to prove that we can be the best.”
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