Stafford McDowall intends to savour every moment of Saturday’s Test against Portugal in case it proves to be the only time he gets to lead Scotland out at Murrayfield.
The 26-year-old Glasgow centre has been selected to captain a much-changed side this weekend in the absence of regular skipper Sione Tuipulotu and a string of other senior players.
McDowall performed co-captain duties along with Luke Crosbie in Scotland’s summer Test victory over Canada in Ottawa and will now fly solo as skipper for the first time on the occasion of his eighth cap.
“I think the closer we get to the game the more it’ll probably hit me and I’ll get a bit more nervous,” said McDowall at his captain’s run press conference on Friday.
“It hit me a bit more today when I had to do a bit more talking and stuff like that than the last couple of weeks but it’s something that I might never get a chance to do again, lead a Scotland team out at Murrayfield, so I’ll try and embrace and enjoy the moment.
“It’s something I didn’t think I’d have the chance to do. It is a dream come true to play for Scotland and to start a game here at Murrayfield, never mind lead the team out. So it’s hopefully something I’ll be able to take in a lot of and remember for the rest of my life.”
Townsend has made 14 changes to the team that started last weekend’s 32-15 defeat by South Africa as he gives several of his less-established players a chance against a Portugal side ranked 15th in the world.
Edinburgh back-rower Ben Muncaster and Glasgow lock Alex Samuel will make their debuts in the starting XV while 19-year-old Edinburgh back-rower Freddy Douglas is in line for his first cap off the bench despite never having played a competitive game at club level.
McDowall is expecting the Scots to be loaded with motivation as their fringe players bid to stake a claim for a place in the 23 to face Australia the following weekend.
“That’s the big thing we’ve talked about this week with the amount of changes: it doesn’t matter who we’re playing,” he stressed, dismissing any notion of complacency.
“This is your chance to play for Scotland at Murrayfield, an almost sold-out Murrayfield. I think we’ve taken away the fact of who we’re playing and what we’re playing against and just focused on ourselves and said if you’ve sat the last two weeks and been frustrated that you’ve not played then you can’t go out on Saturday and not perform to the best of your ability.
“Give it everything you’ve got physically and mentally. So hopefully the opposition will be taken out of it and we’ll just do what we need to do.
“Obviously, it’s a big occasion for a lot of us, but it’s a big occasion for Portugal as well, getting to play here, so we’re expecting a really tough test from a team that throws the ball around a lot with a lot of confidence and is good defensively as well.”
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) November 14, 2024
Scotland team to play Portugal
Forwards: 1 Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors), 2 Patrick Harrison (Edinburgh Rugby), 3 Will Hurd (Leicester Tigers), 4 Alex Craig (Scarlets), 5 Alex Samuel (Glasgow Warriors)*, 6 Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby), 7 Ben Muncaster (Edinburgh Rugby)*, 8 Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby)
Backs: 9 George Horne (Glasgow Warriors), 10 Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors), 11 Arron Reed (Sale Sharks), 12 Stafford McDowall (Captain, Glasgow Warriors), 13 Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints), 14 Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby), 15 Tom Jordan (Glasgow Warriors)
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews (Glasgow Warriors), 17 Rory Sutherland (Glasgow Warriors), 18 Elliot Millar Mills (Northampton Saints), 19 Ewan Johnson (Oyonnax), 20 Freddy Douglas (Edinburgh Rugby)*, 21 Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors), 22 Matt Currie (Edinburgh Rugby), 23 Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Warriors)
* Denotes uncapped player