Trio called into Scotland squad for Nations Championship

The trio come in after Jamie Ritchie and Elliot Millar Mills were ruled out through injury. They have now joined up with the national squad as preparations continue for Test matches against New Zealand, Australia and Japan at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

Uncapped Ollie Blyth-Lafferty has been impressive in Edinburgh’s strong start to the season. The 20-year-old tighthead has started four of the club’s five matches so far, anchoring the scrum as Edinburgh sit fifth in the BKT United Rugby Championship.

He follows up a breakthrough 2025/26 campaign that included 14 appearances, and four Champions Cup starts. A former Scotland U20 international, he started all five games at the summer’s Junior World Championship, scoring three tries.

Freddy Douglas has picked up where he left off in the summer leg of the competition, when he featured for Scotland against Fiji at Murrayfield.

The openside has started every game he’s been available for this season and scored two tries, against Ulster and Zebre. His work at the breakdown has been a big part of Edinburgh’s start, and he leads the URC for turnovers after five rounds.

D’Arcy Rae gets his call-up having just returned from a calf injury. The experienced tighthead featured for Scotland during the 2026 Six Nations, including a start in the 50-40 win over France at Murrayfield.

The three players join Edinburgh team-mates Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman and Liam McConnell, who were named in the original squad, taking the club’s number in the group to eight. 

Scotland’s Nations Championship fixtures (all at Scottish Gas Murrayfield):

• Scotland v New Zealand – Saturday 7 November, KO 2.10pm
• Scotland v Australia – Sunday 15 November, KO 3.10pm
• Scotland v Japan – Saturday 21 November, KO 2.10pm