Jamie Ritchie will always be thankful to Richard Cockerill even if they will be on different sides again in Saturday’s Six Nations opener at Murrayfield.
After a brief spell on leaving Edinburgh in the summer, “Cockers” was hired by England head coach Eddie Jones to join his management team.
The abrasive 51-year-old had four years at Edinburgh and during his spell Ritchie rose to being a key player for both club and country.
Ritchie congratulated Cockerill when he got the forwards specialist post with England, but hasn’t been in contact since then.
‘He definitely had something to do with that’
“He had a massive impact on me,” said the former Madras and Howe of Fife player. “When he was head coach at Edinburgh when I had my breakthrough and opportunity with Scotland, and he definitely had something to do with that.
“He put Edinburgh in a better place than where we were before he came. I’ll always be thankful to him for that.
“At the time it was probably what we needed in terms of a harder edge and a clear direction. He brought that to the club.”
Even though it’s just a matter of months since Cockerill was directly coaching a fair portion of the Scotland team, Ritchie doesn’t think it will have a huge effect in Saturday’s game.
“Most teams have a style, so there are things you can look into in terms of what they may or may not do,” he said. “Cockers may know some of the things we’ll look to try and do, but the specifics of it, no.
“He might have a bit of insight into us individually but I don’t know how that’s going to help them.”
‘England are blessed’
Cockerill is certainly not the only change in England’s set-up since Scotland finally win at Twickenham almost exactly a year ago. But they have a foundation to allow that, says Ritchie.
“England are blessed – they’ve got loads of good players to pick from and it’s probably quite a challenge to nail down a 23,” added the back rower.
“Whatever team runs out there on Saturday we’ll be ready to play and we’ll get an idea of what they want to do.
“Every team has a style they like to stick to. They’re probably in a bit of a transition as to how they want to play and the personnel around that.
“There’s been a lot of rugby between the game 12 months ago and the game coming up on Saturday. We’re looking to concentrate on ourselves, play our best game, and whatever team they put out, that’s the one that needs beaten.”
The home match against England is always the highlight of every other Six Nations, but each player approaches it in a different way.
‘We certainly play on the emotion’
Browse the latest snaps from Oriam as the team returned to camp ahead of Saturday’s @SixNationsRugby opener.#AsOne
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 1, 2022
“Some guys might want to think about it as just another game,” said Ritchie. “Some guys will build it up as that’s what works for them.
“As a group we certainly play on the emotion of it. It’s such a massive fixture in the rugby calendar. (The Calcutta Cup) is the third oldest sporting trophy in the world, which is pretty cool.
“For us it’s a huge honour to get to play in this game and we need to show how much it means to us. That’s how I tend to look at it. When 67,000 people are coming to watch us you want to put your best foot forward.
“It’s always a good game to get off the mark with. Looking back, last year was a massive result for us but we want to back it up this year.”
For Ritchie, he doesn’t get too “uptight” beforehand.
“It’s about us as individuals and as leaders in the squad, how you control it,” he said. “When do you rev the boys up and when do you pull it back?
“The stage and the occasion will get you there, rather than worrying about building yourself up. That’s how I use the emotion of that.
“Getting off the bus at Murrayfield when all the crowd is there is a massive part of my day. That’s the thing that gets me up for it rather than worrying about having to do it in my own head.”
‘It’s more attritional’
The Six Nations is a different event because of the relative familiarity of the teams, he believes.
“We all know each other quite well so the challenge comes from that,” he said. “The sides are fairly similar in the way that they play.
“Perhaps it’s more attritional in the Six Nations. But it’s international rugby at the highest level, maybe the most competitive rugby tournament next to the World Cup.
“This is the top of the pile. This is the big time show. It’s a great thing to be involved in.”