Ritchie feels the heat but will keep his cool
Sportsmail
Jamie Ritchie admits he is ‘starting to feel the heat’ as the pressure builds ahead of the World cup warm-up games that will make or break his chances of going to Japan.
For all the talk from the Scotland coaches over the importance of impressing in training, Ritchie believes delivering on the pitch is what really matters.
the first of the World cup warm-up matches comes against France in Nice a week on Saturday, with townsend cutting his squad from 44 to 31 in early September.
‘it is how you play on a test match day,’ said the Scotland back-row forward. ‘You can be the strongest person in the gym, you can run the most but if you don’t get on the pitch and perform, then you are not going to go.
‘For me, the only thing i can do is concentrate on myself. i am not looking at anyone else, i am not worrying about what they are doing in training, just making sure i am doing anything i get the chance to do to the best of my ability.
‘i am working as hard as i can, but there are obviously guys who are going to be disappointed. You are starting to feel the heat a little bit now but what will be, will be.’
the 22-year-old enhanced his reputation in the Six Nations and has impressed the Scotland coaching team with his attitude in training over the summer. But with a ten-man back-row battle to win one of the five places available in townsend’s 31-strong World cup squad, he knows he has to take every opportunity to prove his worth.
Openside hamish Watson is a definite to travel to Japan, provided he remains injury-free, with the same going for Sam Skinner who can play in the second row and back row. Blade thomson, Gary Graham, Josh Strauss, John Barclay, magnus Bradbury, Ryan Wilson and matt Fagerson are also in the mix for back-row places.
With such competition, the ten-time capped flanker is desperate to feature in as many of the World cup warm-up games — back-to-back matches against France and one against Georgia in tbilisi — as possible to
impress townsend before he makes the final squad selection.
‘Personally, i am champing at the bit to get a game as it is a while since i played and i am looking forward to getting into the games,’ said the edinburgh back-row forward.
‘there is not too much tension yet overall but we have this whole week then into test match week, when i am sure it will start to pick up. We are doing more contact and training is getting a bit more physical, which is always good fun and the France game is coming up quickly.’
Ritchie (below) knows he is not the only one to benefit from the extended time in the Scotland World cup training camp in terms of his fitness, which is why he is determined to stand out from the other back-row contenders in the warm-up matches.
‘everyone is in better shape, everyone is fitter,’ he said. ‘the scores in terms of GPS running are getting better. You can feel the change and you feel less tired at the end of the day. it is getting harder but you can see the boys are in much better nick.
‘the coaches are good at managing us and there is a lot of science behind what we do. it is not just flogging for the sake of it.
‘Being with the Scotland group for such a long period of time is the big thing for me. We have been with Scotland since the middle of July, so that is the thing that is most different for me. it has been enjoyable, it has been good, it has been new faces, new training regime.
‘most of the stuff we have done in camp has been pretty fun. all the fitness we have done is ball in hand and it is interesting and pretty fresh. it is not just running up and down, which is nice. ‘in terms of the back row, you could probably make an argument for any one of us to go, so it will come down to fine margins and what Gregor wants to do. i have been impressed by everyone.’