“Calm, quiet individual” Freddy Douglas set to let his rugby do the talking as he bids to become a breakthrough star for Scotland
-(1).jpg "Freddy Douglas has impressed Gregor Townsend and the Scotland coaching group")
Freddy Douglas has impressed Gregor Townsend and the Scotland coaching group
©Stewart’s Melville College
When Freddy Douglas was just a few days old back in May 2005, Oasis had a number one song with 'Lyla' and while the Mancunian brothers are preparing to make their comeback in 2024, the young back-rower is getting ready to make his breakthrough.
Scottish rugby journalists and supporters have got used to Gregor Townsend throwing up a few left-field names when announcing squads and while there were no massive surprises in the 45-man wider group selected for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series on Wednesday, Douglas’ name stood out.
For the last couple of years, the 19-year-old openside has been touted for a big future given his performances for Stewart’s Melville College, the Future XV in the Super Series, Scotland Under-20s and now Edinburgh Rugby A.
However, he has yet to play a competitive match for the full Edinburgh side but that hasn't put Townsend off.
"I am absolutely over the moon for Freddy, he has worked so hard and everyone at the school is so delighted, it is so cool to see him getting this opportunity so early in his career,” Stuart Edwards, who coached Douglas when he was at Stewart’s Melville College and still works at the school, told TRU.
“He is an exciting talent and is someone that has got huge potential to kick on in the professional game. He may not have played a competitive game for Edinburgh yet, but he is widely regarded as somebody who can have a big, big future within Scottish rugby and I am keen to see how he does.
“As a youngster growing up, he was always really good on the ground, his jackal work was his big selling point, but he built from there to develop his all-round game and the finer details that can help take anyone up the levels.
“His ‘catch-pass’ and his ball carrying consistently improved at school and will be continuing to improve in the environments he is in now and I think he is a potential star for the future.
“He is just a really calm, quiet individual who gets on with his work and he seems to get better when games and situations get harder so the fact that he has already excelled with the Under-20s and Edinburgh A does not surprise me and he’ll be relishing getting the chance to be in the Scotland environment.
“I really hope that he goes on to earn a cap over the November period and we will be watching at the school with a lot of excitement and pride.”
“Freddy just doesn’t take a backwards step”
Sometimes when you speak to a rugby coach about a young player, they try to shy away from talking them up but on Wednesday at Scotland’s training base at Oriam on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Townsend was the opposite when it came to Douglas.
The head coach has known of the player for a few years now as he was at Stewart’s Melville College in Edinburgh around the same time as his own son Christian.
Since then, he has watched him progress and, as recently as Monday and Tuesday of this week, was working with him as part of the National Academy programme.
“I remember watching an Under-16 game [at Stewart’s Melville College] and he was outstanding and there was a lot of talk that Freddy Douglas is going to be special,” Townsend recounts.
“Given his work with the Under-20s recently, there is now an expectation that when there's a ruck close to him, the ball is going to be coming back on his side.
“Mindset is very important and Freddy just doesn’t take a backwards step. He came in during the Six Nations and he was fighting with Pierre Schoeman - that's someone that is going to go into the Test environment and say 'I'm going to go at you'.
“I think every game he's played, whichever level it is at, he's done something that's impressed us as a coaching group.
“Whether it was last weekend playing for Edinburgh A against Glasgow when I think he got four or five turnovers or when he got the most turnovers in the Under-20 Six Nations earlier in the year, he just consistently performs.
“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 - we look forward to seeing him grab his opportunity”
Scotland have been fairly blessed in the number seven jersey in recent times with the likes of Hamish Watson and Rory Darge wearing it with distinction - and Townsend has compared Douglas to the latter.
“He reminds us as a coaching group of Rory Darge when he was brought into Scotland sessions when he wasn't getting games for Edinburgh as a youngster and really impressed us at training,” Townsend stated.
“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 on Tuesday, 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 his opportunity.”
Glasgow Warriors duo Alex Samuel and Tom Jordan and Douglas’ Edinburgh clubmates Ben Muncaster and Mosese Tuipulotu are the four other uncapped players in the wider squad that will meet up late on Sunday/early next week.
Scotland, with Sione Tuipulotu as the new skipper, have four Tests at Scottish Gas Murrayfield during November.
It all starts with Fiji on November 2, then South Africa on November 10, Portugal on November 16 and Australia on November 24. There is also an A game versus the full Chile national team on November 23 at Hive Stadium in the capital.
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 Rugby), Will Hurd (Leicester), Ewan Johnson (Oyonnax), Nathan McBeth, 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 (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).
