'I don't want to plateau now' - Scottish rugby's 2024 breakthrough star desperate for more game time

But the New Year looks set to bring a new opportunity for the 20-year-old, who is expected to start for Edinburgh in Saturday’s URC game away to Benetton. Douglas knows he can take nothing for granted given the competition for places within the squad, but he is determined to stake a claim for a regular place, and hopes that will lead to a Scotland recall.

“I want to keep an upwards trajectory,” he says. “I don't want to plateau now.

“I love starting for Edinburgh - it's obviously a massive passion of mine, and so to get a start is really good. I’ll just try and play my absolute best and leave everything out there.

“Keep trying to play for Edinburgh, keep trying to start for Edinburgh - that's the big goal.

“And hopefully get back into that Scotland squad sometime soon. Those would be my main goals and what I'd really be pushing for.

“I was a wee bit disappointed in the autumn, but I’m just trying to really play as well as I can for Edinburgh and try and get my name out there again. I’m really hungry to get back in the squad.”

Since making his Edinburgh debut a fortnight after turning out for Scotland against Portugal, Douglas has so far made just eight further appearances for Sean Everitt’s side. He looks like getting his chance to take his tally into double figures on Saturday after Dylan Richardson was injured in last week’s game against Glasgow, but he is well aware that he has a real fight on his hands if he is going to hold on to the No 7 jersey.

“There's so much competition here,” he adds. “The calibre of players in the back row is pretty mental here.

“Even with a few injuries, the amount of really world-class players we have in the back row is something else. To train day in and out and try and compete with them every week, it does push you to be a lot better, and it means that when you're coming on, you’re wanting to do really well and to be better than the man you came on for. To have that kind of calibre here at the club does push you really hard.”

Down in 11th in the URC table after their double loss to Glasgow, Edinburgh could badly do with a win in Treviso. If they succeed, Douglas hopes it could be the first step in a revival of their fortunes.

“We’ve maybe not had the best results the past few weeks,” he accepts. “But we were in a similar position last year and then we went away to Munster and had a real catalyst win that made most of our season after that a lot better.

“We’re maybe trying to do similar here. Get a good win away against a strong team like Benetton and hopefully we can build from that and then make something of the season.”