Murray Douglas

Murray Douglas (born 27 October 1989) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who currently plays for the Shizuoka Blue Revs^[1] in Japan Rugby League One.^[2] His position is lock or blindside flanker.

Murray Douglas

Date of birth	(1989-10-27) 27 October 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth	Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	115 kg (18 st 2 lb)
School	Balwearie High School
University	University of Aberdeen
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock, Flanker Current team Shizuoka Blue Revs Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2011–2012 Edinburgh Rugby 1 (0) 2015 Melbourne Rising 5 (0) 2017–2018 Northland 18 (10) 2017 Melbourne Rebels 3 (0) 2018 Hurricanes 7 (0) 2019 → Edinburgh Rugby 5 (0) 2019–2020 Brumbies 23 (5) 2020– Shizuoka Blue Revs 14 ()

Early life

Douglas was born and raised in Kirkcaldy, Fife where he attended Balwearie High School. After finishing high school, Douglas studied law at the University of Aberdeen^[3] where he played with Aberdeen GSFP RFC and captained the side in his final two years at university. The team gained promotion to the Scottish Premiership for the 2011/2012 season.^[4] He made his debut for Edinburgh Rugby in a 38-13 defeat to Cardiff Blues in April 2012.^[5]

Upon graduating from the University of Aberdeen Douglas began training as a solicitor with law firm Pinsent Masons. He joined Heriot's Rugby Club for the 2013/2014 season, winning the Scottish Cup after beating Glasgow Hawks RFC 31-10 in the final at Broadwood Stadium.^[6] During his time with Heriot's Rugby Club, Douglas captained the Scotland Club XV team in fixtures against Ireland Club XV and France national amateur rugby union team.^[7][8]

Rugby career

Douglas relocated to Melbourne, Australia in 2014 to pursue his legal career.^[9] He joined local side Melbourne Harlequins playing in the Dewar Shield competition. He was selected to represent Melbourne Rising in the newly created National Rugby Championship competition for seasons 2015 and 2016.

Douglas gained a professional contract with the Melbourne Rebels for the 2017 Super rugby season after impressing whilst on a trial during pre-season training.^[10] He made his debut for the Rebels against the Chiefs as a late replacement for Culum Retallick in a 24-14 defeat for the Rebels.^[11]

He then moved to New Zealand after accepting a contract with Northland Rugby Union for the 2017 and 2018 Mitre 10 Cup.^[12] His performances throughout the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup earned him a contract with Wellington based Super Rugby franchise Hurricanes (rugby union) for the 2018 season.^[13]

Upon the conclusion of the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season, Douglas accepted a two-year contract with Canberra based Super Rugby franchise ACT Brumbies.^[14] He became a mainstay in the match day squad at ACT Brumbies during his stay, predominantly coming off the bench in the 2019 Super Rugby season before starting every match in the second row in a dominant Brumbies pack in 2020.^[15] Douglas played in the ACT Brumbies 28-23 victory over the Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby AU final at GIO Stadium on 19 September 2020.^[16]

During the 2019 Rugby World Cup Douglas joined Edinburgh Rugby on a short-term deal which coincided with the Super Rugby off-season.^[17] He made five appearances for the Capital side before a neck injury prematurely curtailed his time with the club.^[18]

Douglas signed a two-year contract with Japanese club Yamaha Jubilo ahead of 2021 Top League season.^[19][20]

Super Rugby statistics

As of 19 September 2020

Season	Team	Games	Starts	Sub	Mins	Tries	Cons	Pens	Drops	Points	Yel	Red
2017	Rebels	3	1	2	106	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2018	Hurricanes (rugby union)	7	2	5	216	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2019	ACT Brumbies	11	1	10	242	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2020	ACT Brumbies	12	12	0	823	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Total		33	16	17	1387	1	0	0	0	0	1	0

References

1. "マリー・ダグラス | 【公式】静岡ブルーレヴズ". www.shizuoka-bluerevs.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 July 2023.
2. 一般社団法人ジャパンラグビーリーグワン. "Murray Douglas （2022-23） | JAPAN RUGBY LEAGUE ONE OFFICIAL SITE". 【公式】NTTジャパンラグビー リーグワン (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 July 2023.
3. "Pro Rugby | Alumni Relations | The University of Aberdeen". www.abdn.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
4. "Our History". Aberdeen Grammar Rugby. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
5. "Cardiff Blues 38-13 Edinburgh". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
6. "Heriot's beat Hawks to lift RBS Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
7. Barnes, David (15 March 2017). "MURRAY DOUGLAS NAMED ON BENCH FOR MELBOURNE REBELS". The Offside Line. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
8. dev (6 March 2014). "Scotland out-muscled by physical French Club side". Scottish Rugby. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
9. "Murray Douglas: the only Scot playing in Super Rugby". HeraldScotland. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
10. "Murray Douglas: the only Scot playing in Super Rugby". HeraldScotland. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
11. Barnes, David (15 March 2017). "MURRAY DOUGLAS NAMED ON BENCH FOR MELBOURNE REBELS". The Offside Line. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
12. "Rebels lock signs for Northland". www.northlandrugby.co.nz. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
13. "Murray Douglas: the only Scot playing in Super Rugby". HeraldScotland. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
14. "Plus500 Brumbies Snap Up Douglas | Latest Rugby News | Brumbies". brumbies.rugby. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
15. "Brumby Murray Douglas | Where to now for rugby? | Bring back Origin? - Fox Rugby Podcast". omny.fm. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
16. Harris, Bret (20 September 2020). "The Brumbies did all they could do this year: beat what was put in front of them". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
17. "edinburgh raid super rugby - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
18. "Douglas to return home on short-term deal". Edinburgh Rugby. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
19. "Brumbies farewell Grand Final heroes | Latest Rugby News | Brumbies". brumbies.rugby. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
20. "Greig Laidlaw headlines British and Irish talent set to debut in Top League this weekend". www.rugbypass.com. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2023.

External links

• Murray Douglas - Harlequin Rugby