Ollie Blyth-Lafferty is the "exceptional prospect" who Scotland fans can be excited about

Given that Ollie Blyth-Lafferty was already sitting at over 130kg when he was just 17, it is perhaps not surprising that, now aged 19, the tighthead prop is making great waves in Scottish rugby.

The mood music around the senior national side might not be the best right now, but Blyth-Lafferty is someone everyone in Scotland can get excited about.

Ever since he started coming through the youth ranks with Boroughmuir, many people invested in the sport in the country had high hopes for him.

The fervour around his progress is akin to that of Zander Fagerson when he came through over 10 years ago and if Blyth-Lafferty can go on and have as good a career as his fellow number three - who has 77 Scotland caps and toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2021 - then everyone north of the border will be very happy as quality tightheads do not grow on trees.

When Blyth-Lafferty first came into the Scotland Under-20 set-up aged 17 in 2023/24 after he had just left Firrhill High School, then age-grade head coach Kenny Murray called him an “exceptional prospect”.

Due to World Rugby laws, he could not play in the 2024 age-grade Six Nations due to his age and the fact that he was a front-rower, but, after turning 18 that April, he made up for it by helping Scotland win the World Rugby Trophy on home turf in the summer.

Since then, he has been a key player at this level for Scotland and set the tone last week with his scrummaging as they defeated Italy 36-10 with a bonus point in Round One of the 2026 U20 Six Nations.

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Now the Scots are preparing to take on old rivals England at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh this Friday evening, and Blyth-Lafferty is ready to lead from the front.

“These are the kind of games I look forward to, you know it’s going to be a physical battle and I thrive on that,” he told TRU.

“As a front-rower, I take great pride in doing my job to allow the team to flourish. It might not always be the pretty stuff, but if it gets my team moving forward, that’s all I care about, really.

“Going into the England game, we need to take motivation from what we did against Italy, but at the same time we need to understand that we're playing against a totally different international squad who will have a totally different way of wanting to play.

“It’s going to be faster and more physical, but we're playing at the Hive so we've got that home advantage.

“I think the boys know what we need to do and the boys see this weekend just as the same way the national team see it. This is like a Calcutta Cup match to us.

“It’s probably the biggest game for us, playing England at home. It'll be a massive, massive occasion for us and, for a lot of boys, this will be their first time playing in this kind of match. As a result, it is definitely hitting close to home for a few lad. It'll be a really special occasion.

“I’m excited for the challenge because I think we've definitely got a really special group of players this year, and Italy was a good start, but I think there's so much more to come from us.” 

“From a young age, I looked up to WP Nel”

Every young rugby player has role models, but not everyone gets to work with them day in and day out.

To that end, Blyth-Lafferty was lucky to get the chance to train alongside his idol WP Nel when he joined the Edinburgh academy in 2023/24. By that stage, the 61-cap Scotland tighthead was just coming to the end of his stellar professional career.

“From a young age, I looked up to WP Nel. I remember going to Edinburgh games, watching him play and thinking ‘I want to do what he is doing and be like him’,” Blyth-Lafferty explained.

“WP was a great guy to learn from. When I first went into Edinburgh, he was away on international duty, but once he came back, I instantly wanted to learn from him and he took me under his wing straight away.

“He showed me lots of things that he did while a lot of the work we did together was focused on the things I could get better at.

“He was 37/38 when I was working with him while I was 17/18, so I just wanted to learn all of the time and he was such a good mentor for me. The time I spent with him was invaluable.

“He made it clear to me that all tightheads are different and that you have to use the skills you have - such as your height and size - to your advantage.

“I am miles away from where I want to be yet, but his help and support gave me confidence.”

“I will just keep putting the hard work in”

Blyth-Lafferty is having a ‘breakthrough’ campaign with Edinburgh in the URC and the Champions Cup, and his appearance in the Leinster league game in Dublin just before the Six Nations break was his ninth for the senior team.

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So, what have been the main learnings and ‘work-ons’ for him of late now that he is playing at a higher level more regularly?

“I'd say for me it's open play,” Blyth-Lafferty, whose older brother Jerry is also on Edinburgh’s books, stated.

“There's been games where I've done well in the set piece, and we've gone and reviewed it and then I could have got on the ball more and got carrying a bit more.

“Also, in defence, I am looking to get a bit more out of my collisions.

“Those are my big work-ons at the moment and getting to play with Edinburgh and learn from guys like Magnus [Bradbury, the No.8 and captain] who are big ball carriers is great for me.

“Also with Edinburgh, I see the likes of Boan [Venter, the loosehead prop and South Africa international] and the way he scrums and the way he prepares in training and I want to replicate that as well.

“I will just keep putting the hard work in.”

Scotland Under-20s have made two changes to their starting XV for their game against England.

Skipper Ross Wolfenden is fit again and replaces the injured Henry Kesterton at centre while Jamie Stewart starts at loosehead prop with Oliver McKenna reverting to the bench. Jackson Rennie, a tighthead, is among the subs and could debut.

As for England, Bath's Connor Treacey leads the side, with first starts given to Sonny Tonga’uiha and Bristol's Victor Worsnip.

Saracens' Finn Keylock and Bath's Sam Winters are awarded their first caps at fly-half and right wing, respectively.  

Kealan Freeman-Price, Harry Wright, Freddie Ogden-Metherell and Asa Stewart-Harris are in line for their first U20 caps off the bench.