Jamie Ritchie to Perpignan: How Edinburgh’s loss could be Scotland’s gain

As the domestic game braces itself to lose yet another star with Jamie Ritchie swapping the capital for the sunny shores of Perpignan this summer, could this loss actually be the best thing for the national team.

Scottish rugby, for all its heart stopping and roller-coaster-like gut wrenching, has more fault lines than the Ring of Fire.

Not least the fact that Scotland has only two professional teams, as many as Italy and half the number of the Welsh and Irish.

The obvious answer as to why that is comes down to finances, and with the SRU’s coffers looking a little bare, the temptation to bring back the Border Reivers is low on the list of priorities. 

Wales are having troubles of their own with Cardiff recently entering administration and arguments concerning the thin spread of talent across the quartet of underperforming regions continue to rumble on.

Yet the explanation does not provide a solution to one of the domestic games’ big talking points, a bottleneck effect when it comes to player development as youngsters playing for either Glasgow or Edinburgh struggle to play crucial minutes in the URC. 

So in a twisted way, Jamie Ritchie’s departure could be ideally timed for both the national team, and the player himself. 

Despite their impressive Challenge Cup run where they now prepare for a semi-final, Edinburgh have lived in the shadow of their Glasgow rivals for far too long. League finishes of 9th, 7th, 12th, 10th and currently lying in 11th makes for alarming reading given the quality in the capital. 

Edinburgh too, it has to be said, can be suffocating place for players. Ali Price has so far failed to revive his career in the way the SRU might have hoped when they shipped him from Glasgow, with the scrum-half joining Ritchie and Dave Cherry in making the move abroad this summer.

However the side have some impressive talent coming through their ranks who will need game time if they are to forge a career in the professional game. 

Freddy Douglas pulled up trees in the U20s Six Nations and made a first appearance for Scotland before having played his first game for Edinburgh. Similarly Liam McConnell is another flanker looking to replicate his impact for the age grade side for his club. 

Both are serious talents but both are amongst the nine back-rowers competing for just three places in the scrum, including experienced internationals in Magnus Bradbury, Hamish Watson and of course Ritchie. 

There is an argument to be made that young Scottish players should look for opportunities elsewhere to avoid stalling (a conversation for another time) but a benefit of remaining is being looked after by the SRU, having game time managed with the national team in mind rather than risking injury in pursuit of success. 

Now with Ritchie moving to France, there is an opening for an up and coming talent to stake their claim, as well as some benefits for the 28 year old. 

Enrichment opportunity in more ways than one

In moving to Perpignan, 2009 Top 14 champions, Ritchie will not be the first Scot to represent the Catalan club with Chris Cusiter, Nathan Hines and Alasdair Strokosch all plying their trade there previously.

Importantly, now more than ever, this is the right time for the flanker to play abroad. 

An opening berth for young players aside, Ritchie has had his fair share of ups and downs since emerging as something of a golden boy in Scottish rugby, his ascent had him earmarked by Richard Cockerill and Gregor Townsend, the latter naming the player as his captain in 2022. 

It seemed however, as though the armband weighed heavy and by the start of the November internationals in 2024, there were questions as to wether there was room in the squad, let alone the starting XV for the Dundee native. 

Now just a few months on, Ritchie’s career seems to have found a new lease with his name firmly on the shortlist for the Lions squad and so it was hardly surprising that USA Perpignan had the 54 capper earmarked to help the club propel themselves up the table. 

Ritchie will no doubt harbour ambitions of taking his game further rather than rest on his laurels and, in France’s premier division, he will be in good company to do so. 

Former Edinburgh teammate Blair Kinghorn, similarly a frontrunner for Andy Farrell’s squad, has come leaps and bounds since his move to Toulouse, winning the Top 14 and Champions Cup in his first season. 

Both Jonny Gray and Ben White have made waves across the Chanel for Bordeaux and Toulon respectively and Ritchie will have the chance to pit himself against some of the world’s best. 

That is if they are still there when he arrives. 

Currently the club languish in 11th, before-last and in the relegation play-off places, so there remains a risk Ritchie joins fellow Scot Ewan Johnson in the Pro D2 with Alexander Masibaka set to move back to Montpellier come the conclusion of his time with Soyaux Angoulême. 

If the club were to fall away there is a real chance that Ritchie’s place in the Scotland squad might be jeopardised but that is issue on the back burner for now. 

What matters is that Ritchie’s move epitomises a new way of dealing with the stunting of young players and their development.

Edinburgh may be losing a hugely talented player now, but they may be on their way to giving Gregor Townsend another welcomed headache in the back-row. 

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