'World class' Scotland starlet reveals why he shunned big-money move to sign Edinburgh contract

Freddy Douglas has shunned the prospect of a big-money move to England or France by signing a two-year deal with current club Edinburgh.

It is a first professional contract for the 19-year-old openside, who made his debuts for Scotland, Scotland ‘A’ and then the senior Edinburgh team last month. The deal starts next summer, until which time he will remain on his current academy agreement.

“It is lovely to be wanted, do you know what I mean?”, Douglas said after training at Hive Stadium on Monday when asked about the interest from elsewhere, Bristol Bears having been most strongly linked with a bid to sign him. “So it was nice, but staying in Edinburgh was an offer I couldn’t really refuse. I would always try and stay here unless something bad happened.

“Edinburgh is my home town. It’s where I live and where I’ve grown up my whole life, and it’s always been my dream to play for Edinburgh. I love it here, it’s a really good environment, and not really much point leaving, to be honest. So yeah, love to stay here.”

Freddy Douglas, who made his Scotland debut last month, has signed his first professional contract with Edinburgh Rugby. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group) | SNS Group

Although born and raised in the capital, Douglas - who was dubbed “world-class already” by Scotland assistant coach John Dalziel before any of his debuts - would have been eligible through family members to represent either England or Ireland. But it seemed the prospect of doing that appealed as little as the chance to switch clubs. “Nah,” he said when asked if he had been tempted by that possibility. “Scotland: only ever Scotland. I would hate myself if I went anywhere else.”

Douglas’s contract, announced on Wednesday morning by Edinburgh, marks the culmination of a remarkable few weeks for the teenager, given that trio of debuts. He admitted it was a bit of a whirlwind, but appeared to have taken it in his stride.

“I try and stay calm,” he said. “I’d say I play my best rugby when I’m calm and relaxed. But inside I was overjoyed, to be honest. It was a pretty mental few weeks - it all just happened so quickly.

“It wasn’t, like, super-tough. Obviously playing and going up those levels was hard, but everyone around me was supportive.

“The speed and the physicality that they [Scotland] play at means you have to adapt so quickly. So I think just training and then getting a chance to play, I’ve just grown and grown and become so much better.”

Despite that rapid improvement, Douglas is not presuming he will be included in the senior Scotland squad for next year’s Six Nations Championship, and instead is concentrating on trying to get more time for Edinburgh before returning to the national Under-20s in the New Year. “I would love to keep playing for Edinburgh,” he added. “It’s a dream come true playing for the club, so as many minutes as I can here and then hopefully playing for the 20s. If I get a call-up, then lovely, but I’m thinking at the moment about 20s and hopefully getting a really good Six Nations campaign.”