He’s not played for Edinburgh yet but Gregor Townsend believes 19-year-old Freddy Douglas can be the real deal for Scotland

Gregor Townsend has backed Freddy Douglas to handle the pressure after naming the 19-year-old in his Scotland squad for the Autumn Nations series.

The openside flanker is yet to make an appearance for Edinburgh but has done enough in A matches and for the Scotland under-20 side to merit a berth in the 45-man group.

Townsend explained: ‘I think every game he’s played, whichever level it is, he’s done something that’s impressed us.

‘Whether it was last weekend, playing for Edinburgh A against Glasgow, I think he got four or five penalties from turnovers. He got the most turnovers in the under-20 Six Nations. And he stood up well when his teams have maybe not gone as well.

‘We’ve trained against him with the Scotland under-20s and he fronted up well against our players. We’ve coached him in the last few weeks with the national academy and we love what he brings.

Douglas has impressed the head coach with his displays in the Scotland Under-20 side 

Townsend is confident Douglas will be able to handle the pressure of stepping up 

‘He reminds us of Rory Darge when he was brought into Scotland sessions when he wasn’t getting games for Edinburgh and really impressed us at training.

‘Freddy’s time will come at pro level but there are a lot of good back-rowers at Edinburgh. He’s got a super strength which is his jackaling ability.

‘He went up against one of the best in the world against Uruguay recently. Freddy brings more than that, a real aggression and there’s a speed about his ball carrying, but that’s his super strength.

‘We wanted to give him this opportunity to play at a higher level and it’s now up to him to work towards that.’

There’s a first call-up, too, for Tom Jordan, the New Zealand-born back who will complete the requisite five-year residency requirement before the first match and is being seen primarily as a fly-half rather than a centre.

Townsend said: ‘Tom deserves to be involved and qualifies for the Fiji game. We have picked who we feel are our best players in that position currently. 

Tom really grew in that position (fly-half) last season, going on and winning semis and finals with Glasgow. 

We spoke to him before the summer tour to give him some feedback and let him know that we were keen on him and we have continued that feedback this season.’

Among the high-profile omissions are Johnny Matthews, Glasgow’s first-choice hooker, the Gray brothers, Richie and Johnny, and Ross Thompson, enjoying a new lease of life at Edinburgh.

‘He’s definitely in our discussions,’ said Townsend of Matthews. ‘The three guys that we selected were outstanding on the summer tour. I think Ewan Ashman has been in brilliant form over the last two or three years. He was excellent for Edinburgh last year and he’s continued that, although he obviously missed a week with injury.

‘But two of the big successes for us on the summer tour were Dylan Richardson and Patrick Harrison. They were brilliant. We know what Johnny can bring but we just feel that those players who are in the squad grabbed their opportunity in the summer and have continued to play well this year.’