Stafford McDowall on his debt to Pete Horne and Franco Smith, and making Dad proud with first Scotland cap

Stafford McDowall has waited long enough for his Scotland chance but knows he must seize it with both hands this weekend if he is to convince Gregor Townsend he should be on the plane to France for the Rugby World Cup.

The Glasgow Warriors centre will make his international debut in Saturday’s home match against Italy, the realisation of a dream for the farmer’s son from Galloway who came through the ranks at Stewartry Rugby Club. Townsend has intimated he will make wholesale changes for Scotland’s second warm-up match, against France at Murrayfield a week on Saturday, and is considering cutting his squad from 41 to the requisite 33 after that game. The reality is that those players on the fringes of selection, like McDowall, may have just one opportunity to impress the coach. “Yes, I think you’ve got to look at every game like that,” the player acknowledged. “Especially in a World Cup year, every chance you get to play you’ve got to go out and take it with both hands because you don’t know if you are going to get another opportunity. So, I’m pretty determined to just go out and enjoy it on Saturday. It is something I have been waiting a long time to be able to have a chance to do. I think I’ve worked really hard for it so a chance to go out and enjoy it is pretty good.”

McDowall was in the conversation for selection for the World Cup four years ago after a breakthrough season with Glasgow saw him called into the 2019 Six Nations squad as injury cover. His international prospects dimmed as he drifted out of the picture at Warriors during Danny Wilson’s tenure but the arrival of Franco Smith at Scotstoun last summer had a galvanising effect on the 25-year-old who won a Scotland squad recall for this year’s Six Nations, without making it as far as the matchday 23. Smith was good for McDowall but it was a mutually beneficial relationship, with the player scoring nine tries in 18 starts as Glasgow reached the URC play-offs and European Challenge Cup final.

“I think I owe Franco quite a lot,” said McDowall. “I would have been an unknown to him coming in because I hadn’t played a lot in the previous two years. For him to chuck me in early in the season and give me a chance that I managed to take, then stick with me throughout the season and keep giving me chances, is something I will forever be grateful. And the other coaches as well. Nigel [Carolan], [Pete] Murchie and Pete Horne especially is someone I know as a friend having played with him and he was able to give me honest feedback as a 12 so I have learned a lot from him.”

Townsend spoke this week about McDowall’s evolution as a rugby player, stating that he had “taken his game to another level”. The Scotland coach praised his footwork in particular, and McDowall credits Horne with helping him develop in that area amongst others. “I think my footwork and ball carrying has improved quite a lot,” he said. “That is something I’ve worked on with Pete Horne – he’s really big on footwork before contact. Dropping your body height and bursting through tackles was probably something I wasn’t doing as well before. Having the confidence to use parts of my game that I didn’t use as much in the past. For example, my kicking game is not something I have gone to that often in the past, but I’ve got it in there and feel I have done that well for Glasgow this year. I think just having that confidence back brings out those abilities, and helps me spot opportunities on the pitch.”

Inside centre is a position of strength for Scotland and McDowall is up against his club-mate Sione Tuipulotu and Bath’s Cam Redpath in what is shaping up to be a three-way fight for two places in the final World Cup squad. Tuipulotu is the man in possession of the jersey and the skilful Redpath is someone who Townsend rates highly so McDowall knows it’s about putting his best foot forward against Italy. “I’m sure a lot of people will look at me and say that I’m maybe an outside chance, so it is just about taking the opportunities I have been given,” he said.

If Horne, who will be part of the Scotland coaching team at the World Cup, has been an important figure in the McDowall renaissance, it was the player’s father Fergus who steered the youngster through his early years at Stewartry RFC, the Castle Douglas club that can also count Alex Craig and Joe Ansbro as recent graduates who have gone on to win full international honours. Fergus has been coordinating the ticket requests for friends and family and is likely to be the proudest man in Murrayfield on Saturday when his son stands alongside his Scotland team-mates for the anthems. “There was a point originally when my dad was sending me a list of ticket requirements and I was thinking: ‘Jeezo, I don’t know about that!’. But thankfully I got it sorted,” laughs McDowall. “I’ve got 11 tickets and most boys say that’s about average for a first cap at home. My dad coached me from a young age coming through at Stewartry, so it is a massive moment for him as well – almost as big for him as it is for me. So, I’m really proud that I can do it for him.”