Teenager with a 'superstrength' could play for Scotland before his Edinburgh debut

Freddy Douglas is only 19 but the buzz around the young flanker has been getting louder and louder and it now looks as if he could make his Scotland debut before he has even played a competitive match for Edinburgh.

The teenager is one of five uncapped players selected by Gregor Townsend for the Autumn Nations Series and the national coach has no doubts that he will be able to handle Test rugby. Douglas trained with Scotland last season and was certainly not overawed by the experience.

“He came in last year during the Six Nations and he was fighting with Pierre Schoeman!” revealed the coach. “That’s someone that is going to go into the Test environment and say ‘I’m going to go at you’.”

Freddy Douglas has impressed for Scotland Under-20s. | SNS Group / SRU

Townsend said that Douglas’ “superstrength” was his jackling, that priceless ability to steal possession from the opposition. An out-and-out openside, he has long been on the coach’s radar. He was part of the Scotland Under-20 team which won the World Rugby U20 Trophy in the summer and this season he has played for Edinburgh’s second string A team.

“I remember watching an under-16 game and he was outstanding and there was a lot of talk that Freddy Douglas is going to be special,” said Townsend. “There’s now an expectation that when there's a ruck close to him, the ball is going to be coming back on his side.

“I think every game he’s played, whichever level it is, he’s done something that's impressed us. Whether it was last weekend, playing for Edinburgh A against Glasgow A, I think he got four or five penalties, turnovers. He got the most turnovers in the Under-20 Six Nations. And he stood up well when his teams have maybe not gone as well.

“We've trained against him with Scotland, against the under-20s, and he fronted up against our players. We’ve coached him in the last few weeks with the national academy and we love what he brings. He reminds us of Rory Darge when he was brought into Scotland sessions when he wasn’t getting games for Edinburgh and really impressed us at training. He then went on to have a tremendous start to his pro career at Glasgow and we feel that Freddy will be similar. He just needs that opportunity. I said to him yesterday, it’s obviously great news you're in the squad but you've now got to get yourself into the team for whatever game it is during this period. We look forward to seeing him grab that opportunity.”

Edinburgh are well served by back-row forwards, with Hamish Watson, Jamie Ritchie, Luke Crosbie, Ben Muncaster, Tom Dodd and Connor Boyle all in the mix to play at flanker, but Townsend is hopeful Douglas can break through sooner rather than later.

“In an ideal world you would want all the young players you believe are going to have big careers ahead of them getting earlier opportunities but sometimes that wait makes them better,” he said.

“Freddy’s time will come at pro level - there are a lot of good back-rows at Edinburgh. What we see from him from Edinburgh A and with Scotland U20 is he's got a superstrength, which is the jackalling ability.”

Muncaster is also included as one of the uncapped players in Townsend’s 45-man squad - reward for an impressive start to the season with Edinburgh - as is a third capital player, the centre Mosese Tuipulotu.

“[Muncaster] is a great character, brings a lot of positive energy but really on the field is what's got him in this squad,” said Townsend. “He brings real speed to the game, whether that's at No 8 when he can carry the ball more, or at openside, just the speed off the line.”

The Edinburgh trio are joined by Glasgow Warriors’ lock Alex Samuel and stand-off/centre Tom Jordan as the other uncapped players for the series which begins with the visit of Fiji to Murrayfield a week on Saturday, then continues against South Africa on November 10, Portugal on November 16 and Australia on November 24. There is also an A international against Chile on November 23 which is part of the reason why Townsend has named such a large squad.

New Zealand-born Jordan qualifies after fulfilling the five-year residency requirement and his call-up is reward for his excellence at Glasgow across the past two-and-a-bit seasons under Franco Smith, the high point being his part in the club’s United Rugby Championship triumph. Alongside Finn Russell and Adam Hastings, Jordan is one of three stand-offs in the squad.

“He gives us versatility,” said Townsend. “Three 10s are competing to get into the 23 and Tom can add more as well because he can play centre and potentially 15 so we know that is something to consider. But we are seeing him competing as a 10.

Tom Jordan now qualifies for Scotland on residency grounds. | SNS Group

“He deserves to be involved and he qualifies for the Fiji game. Tom really grew in that position last season going on and winning semis and finals with Glasgow. We spoke to him before the summer tour to give him some feedback and let him know that we were keen on him and we have continued that feedback this season.”

Samuel, meanwhile, was unlucky to miss out on Scotland’s summer tour through injury but now has his chance.

Elsewhere, there are recalls for scrum-half Ali Price, who has been in good form for Edinburgh, D’Arcy Rae, who won his only previous cap against Ireland in 2019, and Rory Hutchinson, the Northampton Saints centre.

Rae, the Edinburgh tighthead prop, comes in from the cold and is likely to feature in the opening match against Fiji on November 2. Scotland will select only home-based players for the game which falls outside the recognised Test window.

Scotland squad

Forwards: Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh), Josh Bayliss (Bath), Jamie Bhatti, Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings (all Glasgow Warriors), Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh), Alex Craig (Scarlets), Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey (both Glasgow Warriors), Freddy Douglas (Edinburgh), Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson (both Glasgow Warriors), Grant Gilchrist, Patrick Harrison (both Edinburgh), Will Hurd (Leicester), Ewan Johnson (Oyonnax), Nathan McBeth (Glasgow Warriors), Elliot Millar Mills (Northampton), Ben Muncaster (Edinburgh), D'Arcy Rae (Edinburgh), Dylan Richardson (Sharks), Jamie Richie (Edinburgh), Alex Samuel (Glasgow Warriors), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh), Rory Sutherland, Max Williamson (both Glasgow Warriors).

Backs: Matt Currie (Edinburgh), Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors), Darcy Graham (Edinburgh), Adam Hastings, George Horne (both Glasgow Warriors), Rory Hutchinson (Northampton), Huw Jones, Tom Jordan (both Glasgow Warriors), Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse), Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors), Harry Paterson, Ali Price (both Edinburgh), Arron Reed (Sale Sharks), Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Warriors), Finn Russell (Bath), Mosese Tuipulotu (Edinburgh), Sione Tuipulotu, captain, (Glasgow Warriors), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh), Ben White (Toulon).