Freddy Douglas admitted his emotions got the better of him as he became the youngest Scotland debutant in more than 60 years when he came off the bench in Saturday’s nine-try 59-21 victory over Portugal.
The 19-year-old back-rower was a surprise inclusion in Gregor Townsend’s squad for this month’s Autumn Series despite never having previously played a competitive game at club level.
Douglas, who had “loads” of family and friends in attendance, was tearful during the anthems ahead of his first ever senior outing. He came on in the 66th minute to replace fellow debutant Ben Muncaster and become the youngest player capped by Scotland since Donald White in 1963. White, incidentally, was at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Freddy Douglas (cap 1234) today became Scotland's youngest capped male player since Donald White (cap 715) in 1963.
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) November 16, 2024
Here they are together 🏴#AsOne pic.twitter.com/YbmG9RXptN
“It’s obviously amazing that I’ve managed to get this opportunity, but I don’t think age is really what matters,” said Douglas. “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.
“I was so excited being in the squad and wanted to get on as soon as I could but just being in the atmosphere of Murrayfield, it felt so amazing.
“When I eventually did get on, it was the best feeling of my life. I remember going on, hugging Benny, that felt amazing.
“The big thing I remember is just the anthem, singing in front of so many people for my country. I got quite emotional during it and it’s something I’ll never, ever forget.”
Douglas admitted his rapid ascent to the full Scotland squad had been “surreal” but he felt he had slotted in well.
Special.
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) November 16, 2024
For the first time as captain, or the very first time.#AsOne | #BGEnergyUnleashed | @BritishGas pic.twitter.com/rxckpGURfz
“Obviously, playing and training with my heroes growing up, it’s all been a bit crazy,” he said. “But they’ve all been so welcoming and it’s not felt like I’m the youngest or that I’m not meant to be here.”
Douglas had been branded “world-class” by Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel in the lead-up to the Portugal match, but the back-rower played down that billing.
“Yeah, I heard about that and I’m obviously buzzing, but hopefully I can just keep working and eventually get to world-class,” he said.
Douglas is keeping his feet on the ground after his debut and not taking it for granted that his career will suddenly take off at club and international level.
“Hopefully it does kick off, but I’m not expecting anything,” he said. “I just want to keep playing my rugby and hopefully get further later.”
Scotland have two fixtures next weekend, an A fixture against Chile on Saturday and Sunday’s Test against Australia, so Douglas is hoping for more game time.
“We’re really lucky in the fact that we’ve got two fixtures next week, so there’s double the amount of players that get an opportunity,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to hopefully another one.”
Townsend made 14 changes for Saturday’s match and it proved to be a big occasion for several players.
Edinburgh back-rower Muncaster and Glasgow lock Alex Samuel also made their debuts while Leicester prop Will Hurd and Sale wing Arron Reed, who scored a double, both marked their first Murrayfield appearances with tries.
Stand-in skipper Stafford McDowall also scored along with Josh Bayliss, Jamie Bhatti and Jamie Dobie while Darcy Graham scored a stunning solo effort to move level with Duhan van der Merwe on 29 at the top of Scotland’s all-time try-scoring list.
“Darcy’s electric, isn’t he?” said Glasgow centre McDowall. “He’s so good and when he picked up the ball I kind of had a feeling he was going to go straight through and score.
“It was maybe a shame we couldn’t feed him for one more – I think that’s the record tied now isn’t it? They (Graham and Van der Merwe) will be fighting it out next week.”
