Bristol Bears suffer recruitment blow as international flanker turns down contract offer
Bristol Bears have missed out on signing Scotland international flanker Freddy Douglas who has turned down an offer from the Premiership club to sign his first professional deal with his hometown club Edinburgh Rugby.
Openside flanker Douglas, 19, made his Test debut off the bench against Portugal last month to become Scotland’s youngest international player in 61 years. Remarkably Douglas ran out for Gregor Townsend’s side before even making his first-class debut for club side Edinburgh, although that came last weekend in their 50-33 win against Benetton in the United Rugby Championship. He is expected to make his European bow this weekend in the Challenge Cup on Friday night against Gloucester.
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Despite Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam being keen to add Douglas to his backrow ahead of the 2025/26 season, the forward has now put pen to paper on a two-year deal with Edinburgh, backing himself to rise above his international rivals for the number seven jersey at the Hive Stadium.
“It is lovely to be wanted, do you know what I mean?” Douglas said. “So it was nice, but staying in Edinburgh was an offer I couldn’t really refuse. I would always try and stay here unless something bad happened.
“Edinburgh is my hometown. It’s where I live and where I’ve grown up my whole life, and it’s always been my dream to play for Edinburgh. I love it here, it’s a really good environment, so there’s not really much point leaving, to be honest.
Looking to his plans for this season, Douglas said: “I would love to keep playing for Edinburgh. It’s a dream come true playing for the club, so try to get as many minutes as I can here and then hopefully playing for the (Scotland Under-) 20s.
“If I get a [senior] call-up, then lovely, but I’m thinking at the moment about 20s and hopefully getting a really good Six Nations campaign.
Bristol have already announced two headline signings ahead of the 2025/26 season with the capture of Glasgow Warriors fly-half Tom Jordan and Newcastle Falcons lock Pedro Rubiolo.