Jamie Ritchie, the Scotland Under-18 captain and product of the Howe of Fife club, will go straight from school into professional rugby after signing senior terms with Edinburgh Rugby.
The Dundee-born 17-year-old Strathallan School pupil, currently with the Scotland Under-20 squad in New Zealand ahead of the Junior World Championships, is the first Scottish player to go from school to a full professional contract since John Barclay joined Glasgow Warriors in 2004.
Such was Ritchie’s performance at a trial with the club towards the end of last season, and head coach Alan Solomons’ impression of him, that Ritchie will bypass the Elite Player Development programme for promising players and join the senior squad immediately.
With Solomons and the Edinburgh management team coming under fire for not trusting in native talent in the South African head coach’s first season in charge, this signing is a big statement by the capital club while also keeping one of Scotland’s most promising players out of the hands of their rivals at Glasgow.
Ritchie, who is a product of the Howe junior system that has produced a host of professional players and current internationalists in Chris Fusaro and Peter Horne, debuted for the Cupar club’s first XV only last year as a 16-year-old.
He captained Scotland at Under-16 and Under-18, represented Caledonia at all age-group levels and was fast-tracked into the Under-20 squad, playing in New Zealand alongside Howe colleague Cam Fenton.
While the 6ft 4in, 16 stone teenager has been a second row in age group rugby so far, Edinburgh see his future in the back row.
Solomons said that the move to secure Ritchie underlined his “vision” to build the club through an academy of young Scottish players.
“Jamie is an absolutely outstanding young player and prospect,” said the head coach.
“The manner in which he handled himself when he met the squad and staff, and his ability to handle the physicality of our sessions during a short trial, confirmed to me that he is ready to make this step.
“When you add this to our new-look leadership group, which includes Grant Gilchrist, Matt Scott and David Denton, you can see that we have a very strong group of Scottish players coming through.
“I think Jamie understood this vision and believes the environment here at Edinburgh Rugby is best suited to realise his potential.
“We now have a strong group of fine young Scots coming through so that we could field an all Scottish under-23 squad, which is really, really exciting for the future of this club.
“Jamie is now going to be part of that, which I think is brilliant.”
Earlier this year Edinburgh signed centre Chris Dean and wing Jamie Hoyland to senior contracts rather than EPD deals, and both are with the Scotland Under-20 team in New Zealand.
Ritchie, who is also the British Independent Schools Judo champion and played for Strathallan first XI at cricket, said he hadn’t expected to be offered a senior contract so soon.
“I’m delighted to sign and to be given this opportunity, and hearing what Alan Solomons has got planned for the club, makes it very exciting. You couldn’t ask for more as a young player, in a club that has real potential to go places over the next couple of seasons.
“The club has a quality back-row with players like David Denton and Mike Coman in there as experienced leaders to learn from. Having been a captain myself, it’s something I want develop in the future.
“Making that first appearance will be really big for me. It’ll then be about pushing on and getting some good performances under my belt. It’s all in my plan and it’s about working hard through the stages.”