Scotland captain talks up new talent who's 'unbelievable on the physical side'

A crowd of around 60,000 is expected for the Portuguese’s first visit to Edinburgh since November 1998 when the Scots beat them 85-11 in a qualifier for the following year’s Rugby World Cup. The only other meeting came at the 2007 World Cup when Scotland won 56-10 in Saint-Étienne.

McDowall will captain the much-changed hosts who have the uncapped Ben Muncaster and Alex Samuel in their starting XV and another eight players whose international appearances can be counted in single digits. There is a place on the bench for Freddy Douglas who, at 19, is poised to become the youngest Scotland male debutant in over 60 years.

“Ben and Alex have shown great form for their clubs,” said McDowall of the new boys. “The communication to them has been just go and do what you do with Edinburgh and Glasgow and enjoy it.

“And then, Freddy coming off the bench, I think although he’s not played for Edinburgh yet, we all saw how good he was for the under-20s and how good he’s been in training with us as well. He’s been unbelievable on the physical side, standing up to people he’s not trained with and played with before and imposing himself. We’re all really excited to see him come on.”

For McDowall, the personal honour of captaining his country comes on the occasion of his eighth cap and the Glasgow centre intends to savour it.

“It’s something that I might never get the chance to do again: lead a Scotland team out at Murrayfield. So I’ll try to embrace and enjoy the moment,” he said. “It’s something that 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 and remember for the rest of my life.”

McDowall said that regular captain Sione Tuipulotu and former skippers Finn Russell and Jamie Ritchie had offered him wise counsel.

“They've just kept me in line with the right stuff to do and things like that,” he said. “They’ve been in my ear about the right message to deliver and they've been really good.

“The closer we get to the game, the more it will probably hit me and I'll get a bit more nervous. It hit me a bit more on Friday when I had to do a bit more talking.”

Having opened their autumn campaign with a thumping 57-17 victory over Fiji then followed it up with a 32-15 loss to world champions South Africa, Saturday’s match against Portugal should offer Scotland the chance to rack up another big win against opponents who are ranked 15th in the world. Gregor Townsend’s side finish the series against Australia at Murrayfield next Sunday.

“You want to stake a claim for next week and beyond that as well but you don't do that by going out of the system and not doing what you should be doing in your position,” warned McDowall. “So it's about using your energy in the right way whether that's in physicality and contact, sticking with the team and the system because ultimately that's what the coaches are looking for.”

Scotland v Portugal (Murrayfield, Saturday, 3.10pm)

Scotland: T Jordan; D Graham, R Hutchinson, S McDowall (capt), A Reed; A Hastings, G Horne; J Bhatti, P Harrison, W Hurd, A Craig, A Samuel, L Crosbie, B Muncaster, J Bayliss. Replacements: J Matthews, R Sutherland, E Millar Mills, E Johnson, F Douglas, J Dobie, M Currie, K Rowe.

Portugal: S Bento; R Storti, J Lima, T Appleton (capt), L Martins; D Cabral, S Marques; D Costa, L Begic, DH Ferreira, J Madeira, D Torgal, A Cunha, N Martins, F Couto. Replacements: A Cunha, P Vincente, A Prim, A Rebelo de Andrade, V Baptista, A Campos, H Aubry, MC Pinto.

Referee: Takehito Namekawa (Jpn).