Born in Edinburgh, openside flanker Freddy Douglas started his rugby with the Stew Mel Lions minis and came through the ranks at Stewart’s Melville College, also playing for Edinburgh Vikings.

He represented Scotland U18 in 2023 and featured for the FOSROC Future XV in the Super Series before joining the Edinburgh pro-academy ahead of the 2023/24 season.

He made an immediate impact at age-grade level, scoring twice on his Scotland U20 debut against Wales in the 2024 U20 Six Nations. He was then part of the side that won the World Rugby U20 Trophy at Hive Stadium that summer, sealing promotion back to the top tier.

Across that first academy season he registered an extraordinary 61 turnovers in the Super Series, U20 Six Nations and U20 Trophy, establishing himself as one of the most effective jackallers in the Scottish pathway.

The breakdown specialist then enjoyed a remarkable few weeks in November 2024.

He won his first Scotland cap off the bench against Portugal at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, becoming the youngest Scotland men’s player since 1963, before he had played a senior game for his club.

A week later he was named Player of the Match for Scotland A against Chile. Before the month was out, he made his Edinburgh debut off the bench against Benetton to become player #1336, and signed his first professional contract days later.

An ankle injury sustained on his first Edinburgh start, against Gloucester in the EPCR Challenge Cup, halted his progress.

He returned for the 2025 U20 Six Nations and was named co-captain of Scotland U20 for the World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy that summer.

Douglas established himself in the Edinburgh back row in 2025/26.

In January 2026 he was voted Scottish Building Society Player of the Month after two Player of the Match awards in a month that included Investec Champions Cup and URC clashes with Bath, the Vodacom Bulls and Leinster.

That form earned a place in Scotland’s 2026 Six Nations squad, a second cap and selection for Scotland A. In June he received the Friends of Scottish Rugby’s Sir Willie Purves Quaich as Scotland’s Young Male Player of the Year.

He has carried that form into 2026/27, scoring Edinburgh’s opening try of the season in the win over Ulster in Belfast and crossing again from a driving maul against Zebre in Parma.