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Scottish teenage sensation Freddy Douglas already on Premiership radar

Freddy Douglas of Scotland looks on following the Autumn Nations Series 2024 match between Scotland and Portugal at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on November 16, 2024 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Scotland wonderkid Freddy Douglas, who won his first international cap against Portugal last weekend, is on the radar of Gallagher Premiership high-fliers Bristol Bears.

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Openside flanker Douglas, 19, became Scotland’s youngest cap since Donald White in 1963 when he came off the bench to make a 15-minute cameo in the 59-21 win at Murrayfield.

Edinburgh-born Douglas was educated at Stewart’s Melville College and joined the pro academy of his hometown club ahead of the 2023/24 season and was capped by Gregor Townsend before making a senior club appearance.

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Edinburgh are blessed with plenty of talent at seven, with Scotland, and British and Lions ace Hamish Watson, Luke Crosbie, Ben Muncaster and Connor Boyle, as well as Douglas, all on their books.

Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel recently said Douglas was “already world-class” and is believed to have spoken to the Bears about a move to the West Country next summer.

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Pat Lam has already snapped up Scottish international Tom Jordan from Glasgow Warriors for next season, and it would appear that there is going to be no end to their spending.

But it remains to be seen if they will be able to lure Douglas south of the border. RugbyPass sources in Scotland tell us that interest from the Bears is why he was capped before making an appearance for Edinburgh.

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Douglas is doing his best to keep his feet on the ground despite the world-class tag and winning his first cap, which has brought a blaze of publicity.

“I heard about that and I’m obviously buzzing, but hopefully I can just keep working and hopefully eventually get to world-class. Obviously, playing and training with my heroes growing up it’s all been a bit crazy.

“But, yeah, just crazy. 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. It just felt so welcoming and special,” he told the Edinburgh Evening News this week.

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J
JW 38 minutes ago
'It doesn’t make sense for New Zealand to deny itself access to world-class players'

There are a couple of inadequacies in this articles points as well.


First

Robertson, in what he has said publicly, is building his argument for change as a means to close the gap that is increasing between the All Blacks and South Africa.

Based on recent performances, the All Blacks are better than the Springboks.


Second

Both games saw the All Blacks lead coming into the last 30 minutes, only for the momentum to shift dramatically once the two sides emptied their respective benches.

The failings of the second half were game plan related, they happened regardless of whether the bench had yet (play got worse very early in the half, even in the first half) been used or not.


And third

Robertson’s view is that because the Boks don’t lose access to their experienced players when they head offshore, it gives them an advantage

Didn't Razor have the most experienced team all year?


Also

“Sam Cane and Ardie Savea with Wallace Siti, what a balance that is.

This is part of Razor's problem. That's a terrible balance. You instead want something like Sam Cane, Hoskins Sotutu, Wallace Sititi. Or Ardie Savea, Sititi, Scott Barrett. Dalton Papaili'i, Savea, Finau. That is balance, not two old struggling to keep up players and an absolute rookie.

It has changed. Not many go north, more go to Japan, so how do we get the balance right to ensure that players who have given loyalty, longevity and who are still playing well

Experience is a priceless commodity in international rugby and New Zealand has a system where it throws away players precisely when they are at their most valuable.

You mean how do we take advantage of this new environment, because nothing has effectively changed has it. It's simply Japan now instead of Europe. What's it going to be like in the future, how is the new American league going to change things?


Mo'unga is the only real valid reason for debating change, but what's far more important is the wide discussion happening that's taking the whole game into account. The current modem throws players away because they decided to go with a 5 team model rather than a 12 or 14 team model. Players have to be asked to leave at the point were we know they aren't going to be All Blacks, when they are playing their best rugby, reached their peak. In order to reset, and see if the next guy coming through can improve on the 'peak' of the last guy. Of course it's going to take years before they even reach the departing players standards, let alone see if they can pass them.


What if there can be a change that enables New Zealand to have a model were players like Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe, Bundee Aki, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ethan Roots, Warner Dearns are All Blacks that make their experienced and youth developemnt the envy of the World. That is the discussion that really needs to be had, not how easy it is to allow Mo'unga to play again. That's how the All Blacks end up winning 3 World Cups in a row.

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