Struggle to make 100kg made Scotland captain Rory Darge's journey far from straightforward

The thousands of England supporters heading up on the train to Edinburgh over the last couple of days will undertake one of Britain’s most scenic stretches of rail, hugging the coast of the Borders and East Lothian as it comes into Waverley Station.

Unlike the Borders, which is established as Scottish Rugby’s traditional rugby heartland, East Lothian is golfing country. Closely followed by birdwatching. Late on Saturday afternoon, the residents of North Berwick will temporarily lay down their clubs and binoculars to crowd around televisions to watch one of their favourite sons, Rory Darge, lead his country in the Calcutta Cup against England.

Technically, Darge is from the small village of Aberlady, nine miles up the coast, but it was at North Berwick Rugby Club that his potential and passion for rugby was forged. His father, Kevin, only took him to rugby training because, as he tells Telegraph Sport, Darge was “hopeless” at football, unlike his brother, Arron, who is a professional footballer.

If there was one person that set him on the path to the Scotland captaincy, it was Keith Hogg, his coach at North Berwick who passed away last year. “Keith was such a big influence on Rory,” Kevin Darge says. “He was an excellent coach but the most important thing was that he made rugby fun for Rory and all the kids coming through. He just loved running around with his mates there more than anything.

“Keith always saw something in Rory. He always predicted that Rory would win a Scotland cap and become a Scotland captain, but sadly he was very ill by the time that happened. There are so many coaches we are indebted to at North Berwick because a lot of the time it is parents pitching in. We are quite a small village and everyone takes a bit of pride that he is from this area.”

Aged 17, Darge was already playing for Scotland Under-20s under Bryan Redpath. The great Scottish scrum-half was renowned for his toughness but even he was impressed by Darge’s courage. “We were playing South Africa in a pre World Cup game on the back pitches at Murrayfield and Rory kept getting over the ball,” he said.

“I thought ‘Jeez he is brave’ because he was getting smashed by these South African forwards who were a lot bigger than him, but he kept coming back. He never let that deter him. He kept coming.”

As he celebrates his 24th birthday on Friday, it is easy to assume that Darge has always had the world at his feet. The speed of his ascent into international rugby is frequently described as meteoric. Yet for two years, he was flatlining after signing for Edinburgh where he could not force his way into a stacked back row featuring Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson and Bill Mata. For all his potential as a jackaller, there was also a perception that he was too small to cut it in professional rugby.

“He was probably around 95kg and they wanted him around 105kg,” Kevin said. “I won’t mention the coach’s name, but there was a big emphasis on getting over that 100kg mark. He struggled to do that despite eating as much as he could and training as hard as he could. He was often the 24th man, going on trips but never playing. I think he ended up getting 17 minutes against Leinster when the result was already settled.”

Darge could easily have been lost to the professional game but when his agent, Tom Beattie, spotted that Glasgow Warriors were suffering a back row injury crisis. A quick call to then coach Danny Wilson ensured that Darge was making the trip across the M8 where he quickly established that the concerns about his size were completely unfounded.

“He had something like two of the man of the match performances in his first three games in the Rainbow Cup,” says dad Kevin. “I think there’s definitely an element of feeling appreciated and wanted that makes a difference to those guys. He was made to feel welcome straight away and he just flourished.”

Darge went on to make his debut in the 2022 Six Nations and was first used as captain in a World Cup warm-up game by Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend who has described him as “world-class”. At the start of the Six Nations, he was named as co-captain alongside Finn Russell.

Darge was a late developer physically but even now is listed at 6ft 1in and 98kg (just over 15 stone) on the Glasgow Warriors website. It remains a considerable annoyance to Redpath that young players are still judged on their size over their ability. “There’s a history of players who are told they are not big enough,” Redpath said. “Was Kwagga Smith in South Africa told that? Probably yes. Was Ben Earl told that? Yes. Was Neil Back told that? Many times. There is this old-school obsession that you are never going to be this or that. He is helping to break that  stigma.”

Darge has tasted victory over England at Under-18 and Under-20 level but this will be his first experience of a senior Calcutta Cup match. The Darge family will be present at Murrayfield while the North Berwick clubhouse promises to be packed. “We are so proud of him,” Ken Muir, the current director of rugby, said. “He still comes back to the club and presented the trophies at the school championship last year. The kids love looking up to these guys. He is proof that you don’t have to be the biggest kid or come from the biggest school to make it.”